Disabled people's right to escape from fire

In support of disabled people’s right to escape their flat in a fire, and in the fight for justice for those who died in Grenfell Tower, please help us hold the Government to account so that it takes fire safety seriously for everyone.

In 2017, 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire. A significant proportion were disabled people, along with their relatives who refused to leave them. No disabled or vulnerable person living there had an evacuation plan.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended that all disabled people living in high-rise buildings should have the right to a personal emergency evacuation plan (“an evacuation plan”). The Prime Minister promised to implement all of the Inquiry’s recommendations in full.

Five years on and the Home Office has announced that it will not give disabled people the right to evacuation plans - on the basis of “practicality, cost and proportionality.” We believe the Government must be held to account for failing to make the fundamental changes it promised in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. We have therefore instructed our legal team to issue proceedings to seek permission for a Judicial Review.

Our lawyers are acting on a ‘no win no fee’ basis and, although we hope our legal challenge will be successful, the Home Office could seek their legal costs against us if we lose. We cannot afford these as what’s left of our savings has been set aside for the £000s we must pay for remediation of our flats.

We have secured some funding but need to raise at least £7500 from crowdfunding to pay for court fees and to protect us from having to pay the Home Office’s legal costs if our challenge fails. Our legal team is applying to the Court for a ‘costs capping order’ to try and ensure that these costs don’t exceed any money that we can raise. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds to meet a costs capping order, it is likely we will be forced to discontinue the claim.

If we win the case and no costs are imposed against us in the next six months, your donation will be fully refunded via the GoFundMe platform. If we lose and costs are imposed against us, or the case does not resolve within six months, the funds will be administered by Sarah Rennie and our solicitors as appropriate.

In support of disabled people’s right to escape their flat in a fire, and in the fight for justice for those who died in Grenfell Tower, please help us hold the Government to account so that it takes fire safety seriously for everyone.