Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission: terms of reference
Published 12 September 2018
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Following the tragic events of 14 June 2017 the Prime Minister personally committed that the bereaved, survivors and immediate North Kensington community will lead decision-making on the long-term future of the Grenfell Tower site.
This was formalised in a set of written principles that were published on 1 March 2018, and indicated that a trusted and transparent process would be agreed to enable representatives of the community to be at the heart of decision-making.
1. Purpose
The purpose of the community-led Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission is to establish a proposal for:
- what happens to the Grenfell Tower site in the future, assumed to be a fitting memorial to remember those who lost their lives
- how the memorial site will be owned and sustainably managed for the long term
2. Scope
The scope of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission is to:
- lead decision-making on how the Grenfell Tower site should be used in the long term, once it is made available and ready for future use
- work openly, inclusively and transparently to develop a community consensus
- produce a report setting out its views on:
- how the Grenfell Tower site should be used in the long term and the nature of the memorial
- any design criteria for the memorial
- how the site should be owned and sustainably managed for the long term
3. Commission membership
The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission will include community and public authority representatives. Community representatives will input the views of the bereaved, survivors and residents from the Lancaster West estate. To ensure an inclusive approach, community representatives will also represent the views of the North Kensington area.
Public authority representatives will advise and support community-led decision making and are responsible for implementing the views of the Memorial Commission.
The Memorial Commission will be made up of:
- an independent chair
- 5 representatives of the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy
- 3 representatives of the former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk who lost their homes
- 2 representatives of the residents of the Lancaster West estate
- relevant public authority representatives including from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Kensington and Chelsea Council, the local NHS Trust, and the independent Site Management team with responsibility for day-to-day management of the Grenfell Tower site
The Memorial Commission’s community membership is structured to ensure the voice of the bereaved carries the most weight, equivalent to a 50% representative vote. As the Memorial Commission will be community-led, the community representatives will be selected by the bereaved, survivors and residents of the Lancaster West estate. The Commission will seek the views of those in the North Kensington area through its consultation process.
At the discretion of the chair, the Memorial Commission will also consult with experts with experience and knowledge that would be of benefit to its work, and invite them to attend meetings on an ex-officio basis. This will include the Inner West London Senior Coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox.
4. Governance
The community-led Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission will have no executive authority and will operate in accordance with these Terms of Reference.
Administrative support for the Commission will be provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Once it is in place, the Memorial Commission’s work is expected to take a minimum of a year, after which it will publish a report setting out its findings.