Grenfell inquiry: Boss of insulation firm told staff to let concerns about product ‘gather dust’

Inquiry hearings resume in remote form after nearly two months off

The Grenfell inquiry has previously heard how Kingspan hired a PR firm to lobby MPs following the deadly fire in 2017 (Getty Images)

A boss at one of the firms behind a flammable insulation used on Grenfell Tower told staff to let concerns about their product “gather dust”, an inquiry has heard.

Kingspan were told by the British Board of Agrément (BBA), the industry certifying body, that there had been “a number of comments” made about the clarity of the wording on the certificate for their Kooltherm K15 product.

Emails shown during an evidence session with Kingspan employee Andrew Pack on Monday showed that the BBA raised concerns about the certificate in December 2008 and suggested several amendments which they offered to make free of charge.

However, Mr Pack’s then-boss Philip Heath, who was a technical manager at the time, told employees at Kingspan to “let the file gather dust”.

Giving evidence, Mr Pack agreed when asked that he was being given a clear instruction by Mr Heath to “delay the matter of the proposed amendments”.

The inquiry, which resumed hearings for the first time in nearly two months on Monday, previously heard how Kingspan used outdated test material to suggest that K15 was safe for use in high-rise buildings above 18 metres tall.

In December, it was also revealed that the firm worked with a public relations agency to lobby MPs over the summer of 2017 in an attempt to convince them that their product was safe.

Kingspan used the agency Portland to try to convince “key decision-makers” that its combustible K15 product was safe if properly installed, the inquiry was told.

Targets for the PR campaign included then-home secretary Amber Rudd and then-housing secretary Sajid Javid, according to internal documents shown as evidence.

Hearings for the inquiry are now taking place remotely, rather than at the inquiry's base at Paddington in central London, due to coronavirus restrictions.

Describing the inquiry's work as “urgent”, chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said organisers were “determined to resume normal working arrangements as soon as it is safe to do so”.

"We all understand that taking evidence in this way lacks some of the important qualities of a hearing at which witnesses and counsel are physically present and face each other across the room, however the style of questioning will remain the same and we shall expect the witnesses to help the inquiry to the best of their ability," he added.

However, a group supporting survivors and bereaved of the tragedy has described the move to remote hearings as “very disappointing”.

Grenfell United said in a statement that they understood how important it was to protect people’s lives and health but added that there was “an urgent need to move back to public hearings in a safe way as soon as possible.”

“This inquiry is our opportunity to look the people who were responsible for the deaths of our loved ones in the eye,” the group said.

“It's the least we deserve.”

The inquiry continues.

Additional reporting by PA