The chief executive of the company that managed the Grenfell Tower for Kensington and Chelsea council has resigned.
Robert Black, the chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), has stepped aside so he can “concentrate on assisting with the investigation and inquiry”.
A statement from the board of KCTMO, which manages about 10,000 homes in the borough, said: “The board wishes to ensure that KCTMO remains best positioned to fully co-operate and assist with the inquiry and so it has agreed with its chief executive, Robert Black, that Mr Black should step aside from his role as chief executive of KCTMO in order that he can concentrate on assisting with the investigation and inquiry.”
The statement said an interim chief executive should be appointed.
Black had already worked in housing for 18 years when he joined KCTMO in May 2009. Prior to taking up his post with KCTMO he was employed by the housing group Circle Anglia for five years, where he was group director of services, responsible for services for 45,000 homes across seven companies.
The day after the fire, Black fronted up for a TV interview with ITV News in front of the still-smouldering tower block, in which he looked shaken by events. Amid criticism of the KCTMO response, he said that he had been up since 3.30am that morning working on the ground.
Black was asked about the warnings previously given by residents and whether he regretted not installing a sprinkler system, but said he could not comment given the ongoing investigation. “We had no expectation this would happen. We are absolutely devastated by it,” he said. He insisted KCTMO had taken its responsibility for the safety of residents seriously.
The latest accounts filed by KCTMO with Companies House show that “key management personnel”, led by Black, shared £760,000 in salaries for managing properties in the borough.
The company was paid £11m by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to manage social housing in 2016.
KCTMO contracted the £10m refurbishment of Grenfell to a private construction firm, Rydon, which in turn subcontracted some of the work, in an illustration of the rewards on offer to private firms from social housing projects.
Grenfell Tower has been managed by KCTMO since 1996, when it took over responsibility from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
KCTMO documents reveal it put its fire safety policy under review last year, ordering changes including speeding up the installation of self-closing doors, tackling hoarding and dealing with clutter in communal areas.
According to board minutes for November 2016, KCTMO admitted it needed to adopt “a more proactive approach to the installation of self-closing devices to flat entrance doors across the stock”.
The company said it would increase the frequency of fire risk assessment reviews, install fire action notices in the entrance lobbies of all blocks and undertake “further work to address the issue of storage and charging of mobility scooters within communal areas”.
A Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council spokesman said: “We are aware Robert Black has agreed to step aside from his role as CEO of the KCTMO and an interim CEO is being sought by the KCTMO as a matter of urgency.”
The KCTMO board has also agreed to focus on residents in Testerton, Hurstway and Barandon Walks who were evacuated in the wake of the fire.