Kensington Council ends contract with body responsible for managing Grenfell
The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation "no longer has the trust of residents" following the disaster.
Thursday 28 September 2017 08:19, UK
Kensington and Chelsea Council has voted unanimously to terminate its contract with the body responsible for managing Grenfell Tower.
On Wednesday, the council voted to get rid of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) and replace it with a new arrangement to manage its housing stock.
Deputy council leader Kim Taylor-Smith said: "The TMO no longer has the trust of residents."
He said the council was working with the TMO to bring its contract to a close, citing a lack of confidence in its fire safety record and a unanimous vote of no confidence from 25 residents' associations.
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The council was "drawing the contract to a close in an organised fashion", he said, adding: "We are listening to residents and consulting on how they want their homes and neighbourhoods to be managed in the future."
It comes after the leader of the council, Elizabeth Campbell, defended the speed at which survivors had been rehoused following the disaster.
She told a council meeting that 20 families are now in permanent accommodation, while another 52 households have accepted an offer in principle.
"We are working around the clock to do whatever we can to get people into new homes," she said.
The council has bought 120 homes, with a further 20 purchases in the hands of solicitors and 20 more under negotiation.
Cllr Campbell added: "I am confident the number of people moving in to new homes will increase dramatically in the coming months."
Loubna Aghzafi, a volunteer who is part of the relief effort for the community affected by the fire, told the meeting out-of-date milk placed in a box of supplies had been given to a nine-week-old baby, who has since become ill.
She told the meeting that council staff that were "solution minded" had been sidelined with those bent on protecting themselves taking over.
"You are desperate to safeguard each other's rank and most importantly to further their careers on the back of this tragedy."
A spokesman for the council said it was "urgently investigating" the allegation of out-of-date baby milk.
Activists also criticised the cutting of funding for the North Kensington Law Centre, which has been advising victims of the fire.