The response to the Grenfell Tower fire was branded a “disgrace” after the Government revealed the majority of the families who lost their homes have not been permanently rehoused.
Housing minister Alok Sharma said of the 203 households who previously lived in the tower and on Grenfell Walk, 26 were living in permanent accommodation at the end of last month.
More than half, 130, were living in emergency accommodation and 47 were living in temporary accommodation, Mr Sharma said.
Labour MP David Lammy, who uncovered the figures using a written parliamentary question, said they should be a “source of shame” for the Government and local council.
“Five months on from the Grenfell Tower fire we are seeing an abject failure by the state to support the survivors of this tragedy,” he said.
“It is nothing short of a disgrace that 130 households are still living in emergency accommodation in bed and breakfasts.
“These families have been failed by the state time and time again and it should be a source of shame for the Government and the Royal Borough of Kensington (RBKC) and Chelsea that so many of these families will be spending Christmas in a bed and breakfast.
“It is totally unacceptable that only one in eight families have been rehoused in permanent accommodation, and it is clear that the RBKC and DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) teams responsible for supporting and rehousing Grenfell Tower residents are totally unfit for purpose.
“The information I am picking up from people working on the ground, together with the fact that only around a quarter of households have accepted permanent accommodation, clearly tells us that the council is moving far too slowly and that when offers are being made they are being turned down because they are unsuitable or away from workplaces, schools and support networks in North Kensington.”
Mr Lammy also asked how many children who previously lived in Grenfell Tower were living in hotels.
In his response, Mr Sharma did not reveal how many children have been rehoused, but said more families are set to move into permanent accommodation as 61 have accepted offers of new homes.
A total of 54 households have accepted offers of temporary homes, meaning those housed in emergency accommodation should fall.
The housing minister said: “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council is working urgently to move all families affected by the Grenfell tragedy into temporary or settled accommodation at the earliest opportunity.
“The Department for Communities and Local Government is working to support the council in achieving this.
“For each family, we will respect their wishes and give them the time and space to make this transition at their own pace, and in a way that best supports them to recover from this tragedy.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here