Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission

Background

·      On 1 March 2018 the Government published a set of written principles reaffirming the commitment to put the Community at the heart of deciding what happens to the future of the Grenfell Tower site. 

·      Those principles were agreed with representatives of the Community and signed by Government and Kensington and Chelsea Council, and will guide the way future decisions are made.

·      The assumption is that the decision-making process on the future of the site will lead to a Commission, whose role will be to support the Community to reach agreement on a fitting memorial to remember those who lost their lives.

Working Group

·      To make sure the Process is community-led, Community signatories to the written principles (Bereaved, Survivors and Lancaster West Estate), supported by the local anchor groups that serve the immediate North Kensington community, were invited to form a working group alongside the Government to agree the detail of how the process will work. The group’s role is to work towards an agreement on:

o   The Commission’s purpose and scope

o   How it will operate

o   How the Community and public authorities will be represented on it

o   How Community-led decisions will be made

·      Working group members will not necessarily be involved in the Commission itself – this will be a separate process and it will be for each Community group to agree their representatives.

·      The working group is a time-limited group to help shape the detail of the decision-making process. The group had its first meeting on 28 June and discussed the purpose and scope of the Commission and how it will work to reach Community consensus.  The discussions were very positive and over the next few weeks the group will continue finalising the detail.

Next Steps

·      We hope to finish our discussions by the end of summer and members of the working group will keep people updated. Following that, there will be a more public update to confirm the scope and remit of the Commission and how it will engage with the bereaved, survivors and local community.

·      There will then be a process for each of the representative groups on the Commission to agree their nominated members.