Accountability for the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster has reached a new legal milestone. The Metropolitan Police have officially submitted their evidence files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and the London Fire Brigade (LFB) is among the organisations under direct criminal scrutiny. This move brings the long march toward justice closer to actual charging decisions, nearly a decade after the fire took 72 lives.
Operation Northleigh, the massive police investigation into the tragedy, has left no stone unturned. Investigators examined the actions of more than 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations. Out of that mountain of data, the Met identified 20 corporate and institutional suspects alongside 54 individuals. The LFB confirmed that London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith received formal notification that a case file concerning the brigade has been handed to prosecutors.
The Scope of the Investigation
The numbers behind the Met's police files reveal the unprecedented scale of the inquiry. Investigators compiled a summary report stretching over 12,600 pages with a word count exceeding four million. They gathered 165 million electronic files, stored 27,000 physical exhibits—ranging from cladding panels down to individual bolts—in a secure warehouse, and took nearly 14,700 witness statements.
Aside from the LFB, other major entities like the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have also confirmed they are part of the evidence files handed over to the CPS.
How the London Fire Brigade Responded
Reaction from the brigade has focused on cooperation and institutional changes. London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith acknowledged the gravity of the announcement while pointing out that the organisation has worked to overhaul its practices.
"LFB accepted the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and has now implemented all the recommendations from both phases," Smith stated following the notification.
The pressure on the LFB stems heavily from the scathing findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The initial inquiry report slammed the brigade's operational response on the night of the fire, specifically criticizing the rigid "stay put" strategy and noting that officers lacked sufficient training regarding the hazards of modern combustible exterior cladding.
What Happens Next at the CPS
The Crown Prosecution Service now faces an enormous burden. Independent prosecutors must comb through the millions of pages of evidence to decide whether criminal charges are warranted against any of the 20 organisations or 54 individuals named in the files.
These charging decisions carry immense weight for the bereaved families, survivors, and local community members who have waited years for legal accountability. The CPS has indicated that its review process will take time given the sheer volume of evidence, with final decisions expected well before the tenth anniversary of the fire in June 2027.
The submission of these files marks the end of police investigation work and the beginning of a tense legal reckoning. Whether the review results in corporate manslaughter charges or other criminal counts remains entirely up to independent prosecutors, but the threshold of institutional accountability has crossed from inquiry recommendations into the criminal justice system.
