Grenfell Inquiry phase two hearings won’t start until 2020

Hearings for the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry won’t start until 2020, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick has confirmed.

After examining the details of what happened at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 in phase one, phase two of the inquiry is set to focus on the construction and refurbishment of the building and the decisions which enabled the disaster, in which 72 people died.

In his closing statement at the end of the phase one hearings yesterday, Moore-Bick said work on phase two had been underway “for many months” but that “it is unlikely that it will be possible to start phase two hearings before the end of next year”.

He explained that the work for phase two, which involves examining the design and execution of a building project that took over four years to complete, has generated around 200,000 documents, all of which need to be disclosed to the core participants in the inquiry.

That exercise isn’t expected to be completed until autumn of next year, he said.

He added: “There is still a lot to do, and new questions that need to be put to potential witnesses are likely to emerge from the documents as they are examined. As the Inquiry’s lawyers become familiar with the documents, they’re likely to identify new questions to put to potential witnesses.

“Finally, in order to enable the Inquiry to probe deeply into the work of the Council, the TMO and the various contractors, it will be necessary for its lawyers, and the lawyers for the various core participants to become thoroughly familiar with all the material to be sure that they have obtained everything that is relevant to our work.”