Kensington and Chelsea Council is one of 20 organisations the Met has referred to the CPS over Grenfell. Charging decisions are due before June 2027.
Kensington and Chelsea Council has been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service over the Grenfell Tower fire. The CPS will now decide whether to charge it with corporate manslaughter and two fire safety offences.
The council published the news itself on Wednesday 30 September. The Metropolitan Police wrote to it that day, the council said, to say it had been referred for:
- corporate manslaughter
- an offence under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
- an offence under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
That is the council’s own statement. Nobody has been charged. A referral asks prosecutors to review the evidence. The decision on whether to charge is theirs alone.
The Met’s files: 20 organisations, 54 people
The council is one of many suspects. On the same day the Met said it had submitted all its Grenfell files to the CPS. There are 20 files, covering 20 companies and organisations and 54 individuals.
The force has asked the CPS to consider charges including:
- corporate manslaughter
- gross negligence manslaughter
- health and safety offences
- fraud and fraud-related offences
- misconduct in public office
The Met has not published the names of the other organisations or of any individual. We will not guess at them. The council is named here because it announced its own referral.
The CPS has committed to making its decisions before the tenth anniversary of the fire, in June 2027, the Met said. The fire on 14 June 2017 killed 72 people.
The size of the investigation
The Met called this “one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency”. Its statement sets out the scale:
- the role of more than 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations was examined
- 14,700 statements were taken
- 220 investigators worked on the case
- the summary reports to the CPS run to more than four million words over 12,600 pages
- they reference more than 45,000 documents, images and exhibits
- 165 million electronic files were gathered
- more than 27,000 exhibits, from cladding and insulation down to screws, nuts and bolts, are held in a secure warehouse
Alongside the 20 suspect files the Met also sent 14 overarching evidence files. Grenfell Tower was held as a crime scene for 14 months, it said.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth called it “a milestone moment”. “We appreciate, of course, it has taken nine years to get to this point,” he said. “While we know this has had a significant impact on those waiting for answers, it has necessarily taken this long to ensure our investigation is meticulous.”
The force also said it was “in no way pre-empting the CPS’s decisions”.
What the council said
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said it was “a significant moment for all bereaved family members, survivors, residents and all those affected by Grenfell”.
“We have accepted the Council’s failings, and our commitment to candour, openness, and accountability has not changed,” she said.
She said the council had cooperated fully with the police investigation, as it had with the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which concluded in 2024. It would “continue to provide any information or assistance asked of us”, she said.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes in council services. A referral is not a charge, and the council has not said any service is affected.
- The decision is months away. The CPS has committed to deciding before June 2027. Until then there is no trial and no verdict.
- Updates go to those affected first. The Met runs a Grenfell Tower investigation site with its latest updates.
- If any charges follow, reporting will be restricted so a fair trial is possible. We will report what the CPS and the courts publish, and nothing that could prejudice a case.
If the news has been hard to take, support is available. The Met’s support contacts page lists:
- NHS Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service, for the bereaved, survivors and others affected who live or work in North Kensington: 020 8637 6279, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week
- Single Point of Access (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust), for mental health referrals and crisis support, 24 hours: 0800 0234 650
- Victim Support, free and confidential, 24 hours a day, whether or not anything was reported to police
- Samaritans, for anyone having a difficult time
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