The Grenfell Inquiry has said that the report into the fire won’t be published before the seventh anniversary of the tragedy as it was planned.
Although the report is reaching its final stages, the inquiry said that the process of notifying those who may be subject to criticism, as per the inquiry rules, "has been significantly larger and more complex than we had originally expected".
About 250 people were contacted under those rules.
"When we have a better understanding of how much longer the rule 13 process is likely to take, we shall write again and, if possible, provide a date for publication," said the Inquiry on its website.
The report publication was initially due in late 2023 but was delayed until early 2024, before a further delay until summer 2024 – and a further delay now.
Once the report is ready, it will be sent to the prime minister, who will then decide when and who will publish it.
The inquiry began on 21 May 2018 with hearings for phase 1, which focused on the causes of the events that led to the fire. That phase of the Inquiry finished on 12 December 2018 and it was nearly a year before chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick published his four-volume phase 1 report, on 30 October 2019.
Phase 2, which examines the causes of the events of the night of the Grenfell Tower disaster, began hearings in 2020. They continued throughout 2020 and 2021, despite disruptions caused by Covid-19.
As of the end of March 2024 the Inquiry has disclosed 20,784 documents in phase 1 and 299,658 documents in Phase 2, making a total of 320,442.
The Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people and destroyed the high-rise in what was one of the worst disasters in post-war Britain.
