Bereaved families of Grenfell Tower disaster victims may have to wait years for prosecutions as Met Police believe it could take 18 months to assess findings in tomorrow’s landmark report

Families of the Grenfell Tower disaster victims may have to wait years for prosecutions, regardless of the strength of failings identified in today’s landmark report into what went wrong.

The Metropolitan Police are still investigating a range of possible offences including corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter, as well health and safety issues.

But they believe it could take at least 18 months to pore over and fully assess the contents of inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s investigation, although it will not determine criminal liability.

Only then will Scotland Yard go to the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise any charges. Given the complexities of the tragedy, and the various components involved, it is unlikely any prosecution would ever reach a criminal court in the UK until at least 2027 – a decade after the devastating blaze.

But anything said by witnesses to the inquiry cannot be used to prosecute them, due to a ruling made after those called to give evidence threatened to stay silent.

Families said they fear the time taken to complete the inquiry will be a ‘get out of jail card’ for those responsible, while the findings would serve as a ‘litmus test of whether the system can hold those responsible to account and lead to the meaningful change necessary to prevent another Grenfell’.

Lead counsel Richard Millett KC previously told the inquiry a ‘spider’s web of blame’ was spun as organisations sought to point to others as being at fault over the fire and described how a ‘merry-go-round of buck-passing’ had prevailed throughout the evidential hearings.

A total of 72 people died when a faulty fridge caught fire and set the 24-storey tower block in Kensington, west London, completely ablaze within hours on June 14 2017.

The fire – the worst residential blaze since the Blitz – triggered mass protests about building standards, following months of concerns from Grenfell Tower residents about the safety following its refurbishment.

The first report into what happened on the night itself, published in 2019, identified a litany of failures, including that the ‘principal reason’ the flames shot up the building at such speed was the combustible cladding which acted as a ‘source of fuel’ and actively helped spread the blaze.

There were also a lack of sub-division measures within the building which could have limited fire-spread.

And Sir Martin said lives were probably lost because crews and 999 operators wasted ‘the best part of an hour’ telling the block’s occupants to ‘stay put’ in their flats – before realising the blaze was wildly out of control.

Today’s report will likely identify concerns over the testing and certification of materials used in Grenfell’s construction, the adequacy of regulations, and the design of Grenfell’s refurbishment, which was completed in 2016, which used aluminium composite material (ACM) panels with a polyethylene (PE) core.

It is also expected to make conclusions on the warnings of the local community and the authorities’ response to the disaster – looking at both whether voices from residents were ignored in the lead-up to the disaster and at claims adequate support was not provided in the days immediately after the fire.

But the Metropolitan Police have warned any prosecutions will not immediately follow the report’s publication.

The force has a team of 180 officers working on its investigation into the blaze, and has identified approximately 20 companies or organisations and around 60 individuals as possible suspects.

It has already interviewed dozens of suspects under caution, having spent more than a year forensically examining Grenfell Tower and painstakingly extracting evidence.

The Justice for Grenfell group said: ‘Public inquiries are meant to uncover the truth and ensure that such disasters are never repeated. However, we must ask ourselves: do they always deliver justice?

‘The Grenfell Inquiry’s final report will be another litmus test of whether the system can hold those responsible to account and lead to the meaningful change necessary to prevent another Grenfell.

‘Millions of pounds have been spent on a public inquiry plagued by delays and complexities. Now, it must deliver the justice, accountability and change that has been long overdue.’

The community said the Government ‘must accept and implement all’ recommendations, and ‘urgently expedite those aimed at preventing further loss’.

Hisam Choucair, who lost six members of his family in the disaster, said the time it has taken for the inquiry to conclude has given those responsible a ‘get out of jail card’.

He told The Telegraph: ‘I don’t think there will even be a trial. The worst that these people will get is probably a fine and petty charges over health and safety. They’ve taken the heat out of the situation.

‘They’ve messed up, and they’ve taken our justice away from us.’

It comes as data showed two of the companies criticised in the inquiry have received public contracts worth nearly £270 million in the last five years.

Research by outsourcing data firm Tussell showed companies currently or formerly owned by Saint-Gobain, which made the combustible Celotex insulation used on the tower, and Rydon, the main contractor for the works.

Celotex was the manufacturer of the majority of the insulation boards used in the refurbishment.

Its Rs5000 was one of the insulation components used in the Grenfell Tower rainscreen cladding system and its TB4000 insulation was used to fill gaps in the window surrounds during the refurbishment of the tower.

Rydon argued that while its ‘position in the contractual chain makes it a focus of attention’, it cannot ‘be blamed for the dishonest behaviour’ of others around the use of ‘their unsafe and dangerous products at Grenfell tower’.