Five days after a deadly blaze devastated a 24-storey West London tower block, local authorities have been sidelined after their relief effort was widely lambasted for failing to provide proper support to those affected by the fire.
A person involved in the emergency response told the Financial Times that Kensington and Chelsea Council would no longer be in charge of operations to help survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. Gold Command, a hierarchy to organise the emergency response, will now be led by a group of chief executives from councils across London. It has also been renamed the Grenfell Fire Response Team.
“This new team is now leading the recovery and response to the Grenfell Tower fire,” Eleanor Kelly, chief executive of Southwark council, said in a statement released on Sunday evening on behalf of the new group.