Legal Protection For Subletters In Bid To Establish True Grenfell Death Toll

Legal Protection For Subletters In Bid To Establish True Grenfell Death Toll

Fresh efforts to pin down the true death toll of the Grenfell Tower tragedy have begun with an offer of legal protection for its subletters.

In a push for information about potential new victims, the Government announced no-one from the block would face charges for illegally renting out their flats.

It is feared the scale of the tragedy has not been captured by official figures due to many residents living in the building off the books.

The development came as 181 high-rise buildings were confirmed to have flammable cladding akin to that suspected of quickening the spread of last month's inferno.

Material from hundreds of buildings nationwide are being subjected to Government-backed fire safety tests in the aftermath of the blaze, which left at least 80 dead.

Towers in 51 local authority areas have failed the test - including 29 in Salford alone, the Government said.

Communities Secrtary Sajid Javid confirmed the legal amnesty on Sunday afternoon, citing "anecdotal evidence" that tenants were subletting properties at the time of the fire.

The move had been agreed in consultation with the Director of Public Prosecution Alison Saunders and Attorney General Jeremy Wright.

Mr Javid said: "I would urge those with information to come forward without fear of prosecution."

As authorities continue to build up a picture of the disaster, the public inquiry into its roots hit early turbulence.

Campaigners warned a boycott could be afoot unless the process, led by retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, considered systemic issues as well as simply the cause of the fire.

Sir Martin had previously indicated the scope of his investigation would be limited to what started the fire, how it spread and how it could be prevented in future.

A consultation period about the inquiry's terms of reference is aiming to conclude by the parliamentary recess on July 20, giving survivors just weeks to make a case for the probe broadening.

Labour MP David Lammy called for the former Court of Appeal judge to forge closer links with victims so the process could maintain legitimacy in their eyes.

"He is a white, upper-middle class man who I suspect has never, ever visited a tower block housing estate and certainly hasn't slept the night on the 20th floor of one," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

"I hope he would do that in the days ahead.

"The job is not just to be independent and judicious - I am sure he is eminently legally qualified, of course he is - it is also to be empathetic and walk with these people on this journey.

"He needs to get close to those victims and survivors very, very quickly and establish he is after the truth and he is fearless and independent and won't be swayed because he is part of the establishment."

Meanwhile, the future of troubled Kensington and Chelsea Council was also called into question as one of its councillors suggested the crisis could spell "the end" of the authority.

Leader of the opposition Labour group Robert Atkinson, who was locked in a heated confrontation with leader Nicholas Paget-Brown last week, claimed ties with the community could be irreparable.

Both Mr Paget-Brown and deputy Rock Feilding-Mellen quit their roles amid ongoing criticism of the council's handling of the disaster.

Mr Atkinson, who represents the ward in which Grenfell Tower is based, told the Press Association: "I really think it could quite quickly be the end of the council altogether.

"I am not sure they have got the capacity or the will to rebuild themselves as an independent authority."

One minister also questioned whether the council could be scrapped altogether to make way for a larger body covering more areas.

Foreign Office minister Mark Field, a former Kensington councillor, suggested the move could make them better equipped to respond to major crises.

He told the Sunday Times: "I doubt that K&C, or any London authority, has the critical mass to deal with something like this.

"It raises questions about whether the model of London governance, with 33 unitary authorities, is really a sustainable model. Thirty-three does seem too many.

"You could look at the New York model, where they have five boroughs. I think that's what we will move towards."