FAQs

The government worked with representatives of the bereaved, survivors and Lancaster West Estate residents to agree to set up a Memorial Commission. After discussions with the community, a set of written principles was published to ensure that the process of agreeing a memorial is community led. In recognition of the particular significance of the site to the bereaved families, the voice of the bereaved carries the most weight.

The Commission is consulting with those bereaved by the Grenfell tragedy, survivors of the tragedy, and North Kensington residents to agree a community-led proposal for the most fitting and appropriate way to remember those who lost their lives.

The Commission is supported by the government but is independent of any organisation. The Commission includes public authority representatives who are responsible for taking forward and implementing the findings from the Commission’s interim and full reports when they are published.

The costs include hiring venues and organising catering for community events such as drop-ins and iftars, producing our report and other materials, postage, secure hosting and maintenance of our website.
Annual expenditure:
– Travel and subsistence: 2019/20 £554.06; 2020/21 £0.00; 2021/22 £1,552.46; 2022/23 £3,892.41
– Anniversary commemorations: 2019/20 £0.00; 2020/21 £2,742.19; 2021/22 £6,798.52; 2022/23 £16,154.97
– Venues and catering: 2019/20 £6,770.72; 2020/21 £316.00; 2021/22 £2,266.00; 2022/23 £30,625.35
– Website hosting and maintenance: 2019/20 £16,200.00; 2020/21 £26,550.00; 2021/22 £19,800.00; 2022/23 £64,188.00
– Professional services (including printing, translations, publications): 2019/20 £12,933.95; 2020/21 £1,285.50; 2021/22 £31,522.04; 2022/23 £75,858.99

The Memorial Commission is made up of representatives of the bereaved, survivors, and residents of the Lancaster West Estate. Along with the independent co-chairs, the Commission also includes relevant public authority representatives from Kensington and Chelsea Council, the local NHS and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. These public authorities do not have full membership on the Commission – they are ‘ex-officio’ members and support community-driven decisions in good faith.

Two independent co-chairs were selected by the community representatives:
– Thelma Stober
– Lord Paul Boateng

The Memorial Commission is made up of representatives of the bereaved, survivors, and residents of the Lancaster West Estate, and two independent co-chairs. The Memorial Commission’s community representatives and co-chairs are supported by relevant, ex-officio, public authority representatives and experts who attend meetings by invitation only. They are not members of the Memorial Commission and do not have voting or decision-making rights.

The government has committed to transfer ownership of the future memorial, if that is the wish of the community, and an organisation will be set up to own and maintain it. The Memorial Commission and the community will decide how the memorial site will be owned and sustainably managed for the long term. The Memorial Commission is having conversations at online community meetings and drop-ins to develop options on ownership including:
– Sustainability (ensuring any arrangements are effective and long-lasting)
– Funding (ensuring that the memorial is financially secure long term)
– Form of the memorial (for example, will it be a garden or building or both?)
– Community involvement (for example, does the community want legal responsibilities and operational responsibilities?)

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (formerly known as Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)) is funding the Commission’s work and providing administrative support.

The Memorial Commission can be contacted by email at GTMCSecretariat@levellingup.gov.uk or through the contact page. To talk to community representatives, ask questions and share your ideas on a future memorial come to the community meetings and drop-ins: see the dates for your diary page for details.

The Memorial Commission uses the definition for next of kin as identified by the Metropolitan Police. However, the Commission recognises that there are people who lost their loved ones in the tragedy who may not necessarily have been listed as the next of kin and understands that family structures can often be complex and difficult to define. The Commission is keen to adopt the most inclusive approach to working with families and to engage with both those who are formally listed as next of kin as well as closely bereaved family members.

The minutes of each meeting are published here.

To ensure an inclusive approach, the Memorial Commission is seeking the views of the bereaved, survivors and North Kensington residents through its consultation process. This includes regular community meetings and drop-ins. The Commission’s membership is structured to ensure the voice of the bereaved carries the most weight, equivalent to a 50% representative vote.

Following its statement on 6 September 2021 in response to media coverage speculating on the future of Grenfell Tower, the Memorial Commission wrote to the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to seek clarity about the Tower’s future. After receiving a reply reaffirming his commitments to the community, we were pleased to resume our meetings and conversations with the community in January 2022, and to continue our work towards creating a fitting memorial to our loved ones.

The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission’s first report, published 16 May 2022, outlines the ideas gathered so far for what a future memorial could look like. This is based on what we’ve heard from those bereaved by and who survived the tragedy, residents of the Lancaster West Estate that surrounds the Tower, and local North Kensington residents. ‘Remembering Grenfell: our journey so far’ captures views from more than 2,000 people who spoke to the Memorial Commission, including around 100 bereaved family members and survivors.

The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission’s second report, Remembering Grenfell: Recommendations and next steps to a memorial, was published 14 November 2023. It covers almost four years of detailed consultation with the bereaved families, survivors and residents who live close to Grenfell Tower to understand their wishes for a fitting and beautiful memorial to all those that were tragically lost. The report calls on the government to honour its commitment and fulfil its moral duty to deliver all sixteen of the Commission’s recommendations. The recommendations for the memorial design include a garden and a built structure, and beyond the sacred space of the Grenfell Tower site, a permanent public exhibition and separate physical and digital archive. Also among the twelve recommendations for a permanent memorial at the Tower site, are that:
– the Grenfell Community must always remain at the centre of decisions about the memorial
– the memorial must be a peaceful sacred space, designed for remembrance and reflection, both individually and communally
– the design must display the rich mix of faiths and cultural backgrounds that make up the Grenfell community; and
– the memorial design should incorporate a garden, a monument and/or other built structure, and options for commemorating the names of those lost, featuring art, water and light.
This report is an important and necessary step in taking the community’s vision for a future memorial, and then turning it into a reality.