Tuesday 3 March 2020 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3
D O N ATO PAO LO M A N C I N I
The architects behind the Grenfell
Tower refurbishment have told the
public inquiry into the deadly 2017 fire
at the London block of flats that they
undertookthejobwithouthavingdone
similar work and required further
trainingtodoso.
The inquiry also heard from Andrzej
Kuszell, founding director of Studio E
Architects, there was no design compe-
tition, interviews or procurement proc-
esses for the project.
Under cross-examination by Richard
Millett QC, the inquiry’s barrister, Mr
Kuszell said his company was “not expe-
rienced” in cladding a residential tower
block. The exterior cladding added dur-
ing the renovation of the tower has been
blamed for the fire spreading through
the 24-storey building in June 2017, kill-
ing 72 people.
The Studio E team, according to inter-
nal company emails, was “a little green
on process on technicality” and in need
of some rapid training to undertake the
project at the tower, owned by the Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in
west London.
“If we had understood that building
regulations were not robust, if we had
understood that we can’t trust a certifi-
cation, if we had understood that advice
that was being given from parties, who
were either specialists or marketing
products, was that unreliable and mis-
leading... I don’t think this tragedy
would’ve happened,” Mr Kuszell said
yesterday.
“It shouldn’t have happened. I’m
really, really sorry for all of you and eve-
rybody else who was involved in the
project,” he said, addressing victims and
family members in the public gallery. “I
can only say to you from my heart that
we really wanted to do the absolute best
project we could.”
The company is among key corporate
witnesses to the inquiry for whom theattorney-general last week granted a
request that any evidence they give to
the inquiry will not be used against
them to inform future prosecutions.
The undertaking is not retroactive,
meaning it does not apply to statements
already given, and does not extend to
documents.
A Metropolitan Police probe is run-
ning in parallel to the public inquiry,
which is currently examining the causes
that led to the fire. The Met probe is
criminal in nature and considering a
wide array of offences, including corpo-
rate manslaughter.
Protesters interrupted the inquiry
briefly yesterday morning, and eventu-
ally left the room.
Studio E is among those parties to the
inquiry that have previously been
accused of knowing that the tower’s
cladding panels would fail if flames
reached the outside of the building
The Fire Brigades Union also criti-
cised the “endless delays” to the inquiry.
Matt Wrack, general secretary, said:
“Firefighters underwent immense scru-
tiny during phase one, while corporate
witnesses have had years to prepare and
will not have their evidence used against
them in criminal prosecutions; a protec-
tion afforded to no firefighter.”Public inquiry
Grenfell architects ‘not experienced’ in cladding
N AT I O N A L
G E O R G E PA R K E R , VA L E N T I N A R O M E I ,
C H R I S G I L E S A N D M AT T H E W V I N C E N T
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has vowed to
take “firm action to support families,
businesses and the public services” in
the face of the coronavirus when he
presents his first Budget on March 11.
The Budget was supposed to show-
case a new economic vision but as the
country braces itself for the fallout from
the coronavirus, the chancellor is hav-
ing to recraft the statement to convey a
sense of “security”.
Mr Sunak’s allies have played down
the prospect of a big fiscal stimulus,
working instead on targeted schemes to
help public services, companies and
workers, some of them dusted down
from after the financial crash of 2008.
“We are well prepared for this global
threat and, as the wider economic pic-
ture becomes clearer, we stand ready to
announce further support where
needed,” Mr Sunak said yesterday.
In the short term, the chancellor is
ready to provide emergency cash to help
the National Health Service prepare for
a pandemic, while drawing up plans to
deal with the economic impact if mil-
lions of workers have to stay at home.
He is looking at ways to help compa-
nies if they are crippled by mass staff
sickness or self-quarantine measures,
and workers — particularly on flexible
or zero-hours contracts — who face
hardship if they have to stay at home.
Mr Sunak’s allies said the Treasury’s
targeted approach would be guided my
medical advice. “There was a big fiscal
loosening last year,” said one ally. “We
have to target the problem and we will
be guided by medical advice. You can’t
just do random stuff.”
Among measures being considered is
a “time to pay” scheme for companies
struggling to pay tax bills because of a
virus-related cash flow problem, echo-
ing the help given to companies in 2008.
Although global spread of the disease
has forced the Treasury to adopt a more
cautious approach, the Budget will still
focus on delivering the Conservative
manifesto, including cash to help “level
up” the economy. Some big tax and
spending decisions are likely to be
deferred until a second 2020 Budget in
the autumn, allowing Mr Sunak more
time to assess the economic impact.
Downing Street dismissed any sugges-
tion the Budget might be delayed, say-
ing: “The government stands ready to
use all levers at its disposal to ensure
that we are as prepared as we can be.”
Mr Sunak will be in a difficult position
because the official forecasts, produced
by the Office for Budget Responsibility,
had to be finalised before it was clear
how widely the virus would spread.
The fiscal watchdog finished its base-
line economic and fiscal forecasts,
which do not take account of govern-
ment policy, two weeks ago and these
have been described by people familiar
with their contents as “unexciting”.
In the past, when events have upset
the basis of the forecasts close to the
Budget, the OBR has added commen-
tary surrounding the figures and it can
be expected to do this again, taking
account of recent stock market falls and
changes to market interest rates.
Mark Carney, outgoing Bank of Eng-
land governor, will set out his approach
to tackling the virus today in what is
likely to be his last appearance before
the Commons Treasury committee.
“The bank is working closely with HM
Treasury and the FCA [Financial Con-
duct Authority] as well as our interna-
tional partners to ensure all necessary
steps are taken to protect financial and
monetary stability,” the BoE said.
In late 2006 the three authorities
assessed the City’s ability to cope with a
“six-week marketwide pandemic”.
Their subsequent report found “prepar-
edness had been improved” in areas
such as remote working, recovery sites
and insurance.
Institutions involved in circulating
cash developed systems for operating
during a health emergency, while retail
banks put in place arrangements to
“maintain services during a pandemic”.
Financial infrastructure providers such
as the London Stock Exchange and
clearing houses also enhanced their
contingency arrangements.
In recent days the FCA has been
checking institutions have up-to-date
plans in place if the virus spreads, to
ensure markets function normally. Reg-
ulators have been asking whether
employees can be moved to alternative
locations or equipped to work at home.But analysts said pressure would mount
on the BoE to cut rates if the virus hob-
bled growth.
Some economists, including those at
Capital Economics, the EY Item Club
and NatWest, have downgraded their
2020 growth forecast by about 0.2 per-
centage points because of weaker global
demand, the disruption in production
and reduced household wealth follow-
ing the drop in equity prices.
Their downgrade is in line with the
OECD forecast that cut gross domestic
product growth for 2020 to 0.8 per cent
yesterday, from 1 per cent in November.
“If we see the virus become much more
widespread in Europe and the UK, theresponse from individuals and the gov-
ernment could mean the economic
damage is much larger than that,” said
Andrew Wishart at Capital Economics.
The probability of a BoE rate cut by
June has jumped to over 80 per cent, up
from 46.8 per cent a week ago, say data
from the CME Group. “We cannot rule
out Governor Carney calling an emer-
gency Monetary Policy Committee
meeting in the coming days, given the
rising risk the virus reaches an explosive
stage of transmission in Europe,” said
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at
Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Kallum Pickering, head of UK macr-
oeconomics at Berenberg, the invest-
ment bank, said neither the BoE nor
Treasury fiscal policy were capable of
tackling “the potential risks facing the
UK and global economy from corona”.
Coronavirus reportspage 7
Editorial Commentpage 10
Lexpage 12Sunak stresses measures to deal
with virus mitigation in Budget
Plans to present showcase for new economic vision displaced by needs of families, businesses and public services
J I M B R U N S D E N— BRUSSELSBritain has urged Brussels to honour a
June deadline for granting market
access rights that the City of London
will rely on when the post-Brexit
transition period expires at the end of
theyear.In a letter published on the same day
that Britain and the EU began negotia-
tions on their future relationship, Rishi
Sunak, chancellor, told the European
Commission he could “see no reason”
why both sides could not complete the
necessary approvals on time.
The letter, dated February 27, under-
lines the UK’s urgency in aiming to
secure access rights for financial serv-
ices firms that will cushion any blow
from leaving the single market.
The EU has insisted that future access
arrangements must be based on equiva-
lence, which is the same system it uses
for other non-EU countries. Around 40
different equivalence provisions are
scattered across the EU’s financial serv-
ices laws, dealing with issues such as the
ability of Europe’s companies to use
clearing houses and stock exchanges
located outside the bloc.
The system does not require other
countries to directly apply EU rules, but
to have standards of comparable rigour.
UK officials have complained that the
EU’s negotiating mandate for future
relationship talks, published last week,
did not mention an agreement the two
sides reached last year to move quickly
on equivalence.
As part of Britain’s Brexit deal, signed
last October, the EU and UK agreed they
should start assessing equivalence “as
soon as possible after the United King-
dom’s withdrawal from the Union,
endeavouring to conclude these assess-
ments before the end of June 2020”.
Brussels has retorted that there was
no need to mention it in the mandate as
the issue is strictly unilateral and not
part of the future relationship talks.Financial services
EU assurance
sought on
deadline for
market access
Grenfell Tower’s exterior cladding is
blamed for the fatal 2017 fire tragedyBoris Johnson warned it was “likely”
coronavirus would continue to spread
but urged the public to “go about
business as usual” ahead of the
publication today of a UK-wide
government action plan.
The prime minister chaired a session
of the emergency Cobra committee on
the virus for the first time yesterday as
the number of people infected in the
UK rose to 40.
Matt Hancock, health secretary, has
emphasised that social distancing
measures are not needed but that
nothing can be ruled out, including
locking down cities.
It emerged yesterday that health
ministers had called for the UK to
remain part of the EU’s pandemic
response system after Brexit, but
Downing Street ruled out such a move.
Laura HughesPM urges public to ‘go
about business as usual’‘We have to target the
problem and we will be
guided by medical advice.You can’t do random stuff ’
Tourist hotspot: London retains its popularity despite concerns about the spread of the virus— Tolga Akmen/AFP/GettyCobraMARCH 3 2020 Section:World Time: 2/3/2020 - 19: 49 User: john.conlon Page Name: UKNEWS2-0006, Part,Page,Edition: LON, 3 , 1