As 100 Grenfell households spend Christmas in hotels, payout to help with festive costs fails to arrive for 18 families

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Money promised to Grenfell Tower survivors by Kensington council to help cover Christmas costs did not arrive in time for 18 households.



“This was our error and we are sorry for this and have taken steps to deal with the households we are aware of,” said Kim Taylor-Smith, the deputy leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).

Eighteen households, including those of both survivors and evacuees, did not receive a payment before Christmas despite the council’s commitment.

Among those were three from Grenfell Tower and nearby Grenfell Walk, and seven from the walkways where properties were evacuated after the June fire that killed 71 people. The other missed payments were to eight households from the wider estate.

RBKC had told families and individuals still in temporary accommodation they would get £140 per person to help ease December’s financial pressures.



The extra money was suggested initially due to fears some people, including those with no cooking facilities in hotels, might face higher costs than usual at Christmas.

“More than 440 additional Christmas food payments of £140 were made before Christmas on top of the £300 per week per adult and £150 per week per child given for food,” said Taylor-Smith, who pointed out that residents could contact the Care for Grenfell team if they needed help.

“But unfortunately we have found 18 households that did not receive their additional payment in time for Christmas. Households can get the money on a pre-paid credit card immediately, but if they want the money paid directly into their bank accounts this will take a few days to process through their accounts.”

The council, along with other institutions, has been dogged by accusations that it was too slow to respond to the crisis. Once help arrived, it was criticised as being mired in bureaucracy.

Almost £20m was collected for survivors in the aftermath of the fire but only a fraction of that had been distributed by 10 August, according to data released by the Charity Commission.

The regulator said £2.8m had reached victims – less than 15% of the £18.9m total raised by charities led by the Red Cross, the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation and the Evening Standard. That figure did, however, gradually increase over time.

The London Emergency Trust, responsible for dispersing the funds, came under scrutiny in the wake of the revelations.

About 100 households that survived the Grenfell Tower fire spent Christmas Day in hotels.

Mark Simms, director of the Rugby Portobello Trust, which has been distributing grants to the local community, said survivors had been deceived by promises to rehouse them quickly.

“We knew finding 300 properties in Kensington and Chelsea was never going to be three weeks, it was never going to be three months,” he said, adding that a lack of honesty throughout the process had added to survivors’ stress.

The prime minister, Theresa May, initially said she hoped to rehouse everyone within three weeks of the fire, but the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, later told MPs the local council was aiming for a Christmas deadline. The leader of the council, Elizabeth Campbell, said she was “absolutely” hoping to have everyone in homes within a year.