Lawyers acting for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire and bereaved family members have been outlining the details of a civil damages claim settlement.
At the High Court, barrister Richard Hermer KC said a compensation sum of about £150m had been awarded across 900 cases in the “global settlement”.
The June 2017 fire at the west London tower block killed 72 people.
Court listings indicate the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was one of a number of defendants.
The London Fire Commissioner was also listed as a defendant, while cladding giant Arconic previously confirmed it was another. The firm said it had “agreed to contribute to a restorative justice project to benefit the community affected by the fire”.
A total of £50m, including £25m from government and £6m from Arconic, has been pledged to the settlement fund.
The settlement does not include all victims of the fire and is separate from the long-running inquiry, chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, which is examining the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the blaze.
That report is due to be published later this year.
Those who took part in the claim were represented by 14 legal firms. It has been stressed that the agreement does not affect the potential for any criminal charges to be brought in the future.
Mr Hermer said: “No amount of money will ever truly compensate for what the claimants have had to endure.
“This is a settlement purely of the civil claims for compensation. The settlement does not right the wrong, it does not secure accountability.”
The judge, Senior Master Barbara Fontaine, specifically approved financial arrangements regarding the claims made by eight children, as part of the wider settlement. Lawyers said she would examine issues such as investment arrangements for these claimants.
Source – BBC News
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