Grenfell Tower: Government warns commissioners could take control of Kensington and Chelsea council

Extensive calls for the council to be stripped of its powers after handling of disaster described as ‘utter chaos’

The remains of Grenfell Tower (PA)

The Government has warned that directly appointed commissioners could take over Kensington and Chelsea council and said it would keep “a close eye” on proceedings following the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The news comes after opposition politicians and activists told The Independent that the council was no longer fit to handle the crisis.

There have been extensive calls for Kensington and Chelsea Council to be stripped of its powers after its attempts to deal with the disaster have been described as “utter chaos”.

Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said it was right that Nicholas Paget-Brown, the leader of the council, had resigned, and any replacement would be selected “independent of government”.

“It is right the council leader stepped down given the initial response to the Grenfell tragedy,” he said, the Telegraph reported.

“The process to select his successor will be independent of government, but we will be keeping a close eye on the situation. If we need to take further action, we won't hesitate to do so.”

Calls for his resignation reached fever pitch after he cancelled a meeting of the borough’s cabinet following a High Court ruling that handed the media the right to attend.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, added pressure and called for commissioners to take over the council after a wave of controversies since the incident.

It has now been revealed at least one former resident of Grenfell Tower is still having rent taken out of their bank account.

Yvette Williams, coordinator of Justice4Grenfell, said a resident had recently obtained a new bank card and other documents following the blaze, only to find that rent instalments had been deducted.

Her claim was backed up by Pilgrim Tucker, a community organiser working with the Grenfell Action Group, who tweeted on Saturday: “All bar one of the evacuated residents from uninhabitable blocks around grenfell I spoke to this morning are having rent deducted by council.”

Tory councillor Catherine Faulks called the erroneous rent deduction a "tiny thing", before quickly tracking back on her words.

“Oh come on, that’s a tiny thing – I mean it’s not a tiny thing for them it’s a huge thing and it’s very upsetting,” Ms Faulks said during an interview on BBC Radio 4.

“But the council are in the process of trying to house 400 people. They’ve got people in hotels, they’ve got a social worker for every single family who is triaging them into a wraparound service.

“I’m very sorry to hear that’s happened, but that person to whom that has happened will have one person connection they can go to sort it out,” she added.

At least 80 people are thought to have died in the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington, West London on 14 June.

A public enquiry is set to take place, which will be headed up by Sir Martin Moore-Bick.