Metropolitan Police submits final Grenfell Tower fire investigation file to CPS, seeking charges against 54 individuals and 20 companies

The Metropolitan Police has submitted its final investigation file into the Grenfell Tower fire to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), seeking charges against 54 individuals and 20 companies.

These include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences and misconduct in public office.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the Department of Housing have both been referred to the CPS following the fire which killed 72 people at the tower block in North Kensington, west London.

The CPS said charging decisions would be made before the 10th anniversary of the disaster, which is on 14 June 2027.

RBKC said it had been informed by the Met that it had referred the council to the CPS for three offences: corporate manslaughter, section 3 of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and acting contrary to the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005.

The council said in a statement on Wednesday: "They have told us that the CPS will now independently review the evidence, and they will decide whether to charge the council with those offences."

Elizabeth Campbell, leader of the council, said their "commitment to candour, openness, and accountability has not changed".

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has also confirmed that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for building safety, has been under investigation since 2023 in relation to Grenfell.

She said a file concerning a potential breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 had now been sent to the CPS.

However, as a government department, the ministry has Crown Immunity and cannot be prosecuted.

While it is still required to comply with health and safety law, it cannot be charged or face the penalties that would normally follow a conviction.

It could instead face a formal Crown Censure by the Health and Safety Executive.

Rayner said that "in order to protect the integrity of the investigation" the department had not previously discussed its details publicly, "including its own status as a subject of it".

She added: "The government failed in its fundamental duty to keep the residents of Grenfell Tower safe.

"Lives were lost as a consequence of profound failures within the building safety system. On behalf of the British state, I am sorry."

A public inquiry report released in 2024 found the fire was avoidable and set out how a chain of failures across government and the private sector led to the disaster.

The Met's investigation, Operation Northleigh, has run in parallel with the public inquiry into the disaster, but detectives waited for the inquiry to publish its findings before completing their work.

Some bereaved families and survivors have said this delayed justice, but it allowed police to consider the inquiry's often highly technical conclusions.

Grenfell United, a bereaved families and survivors group, said "no family should have to fight this hard, for this long, for justice".

"It has taken more than nine years to get here. Nine years, and no one has been held criminally accountable for the deaths of our 72 loved ones.

"We want those responsible to face justice. If people are found guilty of crimes that cost our loved ones their lives, we want to see them behind bars.

"Only then will people see that there are real consequences for what happened at Grenfell."

Emma O'Connor, a survivor who escaped from the 20th floor, said: "As we approach the 10-year anniversary, there'll be nothing left, just memories, holding our loved ones in our hearts forever and remembering the good times."

Responding to the latest announcement, she said: "I'm happy for my neighbours and feel that criminal charges will be justice for them and their families, but to me it's definitely not.

"My justice looks like removing cladding," she said.

O'Connor urged the CPS to make sure the cases were "watertight and that we don't have to do retrials".

Piers Thompson, who lives in the shadow of Grenfell, said the handing over of the final investigation file was "about time".

"On one hand, it's great that it's moving. People are finally going to go to court. We're finally going to see justice, we hope. However, it's taken too long," he said.

Speaking about the deconstruction of Grenfell Tower, he said: "We worry that the tower not being there means it's going to be forgotten.

"I miss the tower. The original tower was a beautiful, beautiful, brutalist building."

Deputy assistant commissioner Kevin Southworth said a team of 220 investigators had worked hard on the case but he appreciates "it has taken nine years to get to this point".

"As we have said before, this is one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency – the scale is truly enormous.

"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 and presents the very best possible evidence to the CPS for charging decisions," he added.

The CPS will decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction, as well as considering whether bringing charges is in the public interest.

In anticipation of possible criminal proceedings, the Met has said it is building a £2m replica of a section of the tower, which is being dismantled, to help future jurors understand its layout.

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said it marked "an important step".

"We recognise that the journey to this point has been long and difficult.

"Charging decisions will be made independently by CPS prosecutors following a thorough and careful review of all the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service," he added.

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