Eric Pickles
- davidlittle
- Sep 5, 2024
- 3 min read
Lord Pickles has denied that a focus on deregulation under David Cameron contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire despite being criticised in the inquiry report released yesterday.
The public inquiry chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick found that a preoccupation with the idea of deregulation in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in the years running up to the Grenfell fire resulted in fire safety being neglected.
Between 2010 and 2015, Eric Pickles led DCLG.
The Grenfell report said that a “deregulatory agenda, enthusiastically supported by some junior ministers and the secretary of state, dominated the department’s thinking to such an extent that even matters affecting the safety of life were ignored, delayed or disregarded”.
It added that “during that period the government determinedly resisted calls from across the fire sector” to increase regulation.
Sir Martin said there was a “wealth of material” to show Lord Pickles was an “ardent supporter” of deregulation, and “the pressure within the department to reduce red tape was so strong that civil servants felt the need to put it at the forefront of every decision”.
Lord Pickles told the inquiry that he would have viewed it as “ludicrous” if civil servants thought the drive for deregulation covered building regulations, but Sir Martin said documentary evidence supported claims by officials that deregulation was “a dominant influence within the department”.
However, asked by i whether he accepted the deregulation agenda had gone too far under the Cameron government, Lord Pickles said that the report noted that “fire and building safety was out of scope” of the “red tape challenge and the housing standards review”.
Lord Pickles added that while he was still in the process of going through the Grenfell report, he had been unable to “find an example of deregulation being used on fire or safety”.
During the inquiry, Lord Pickles was forced to apologise after telling the lead counsel not to waste his time because he had a “busy day”.
He told Richard Millett QC: “Feel free to ask me as many questions as you like, but could I respectfully remind you that you did promise that we would be away this morning and I have changed my schedules to fit this in.
“I do have an extremely busy day.
“But this is more important than anything, but I would urge you to use your time wisely.”
Lord Pickles also apologised for incorrectly stating that 96 people died in the fire while being questioned. The final death toll stood at 72.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, told i there had been “a complete failure at central government” and an “obsession” with deregulation which had created “the regime that allows Grenfell Tower to become unsafe”.
He said that ministers responsible for the decisions at the time “should be held to account for that”.
Eric Pickles is an individual who I have always had little respect for and following the release yesterday of the Grenfell Inquiry Report he has sunk even lower.
Last night he issued the post below on X formerly Twitter and more or less immediately locked it down so that members of the public could not post replies, personally I always think a cowardly and petty thing to do, you may not like what the public say but it’s called Freedom of Speech.
The Independent in April 2022 - Read here
Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report - Read here
