Councils across London stepped in on Sunday evening to form a 24-hour Grenfell Tower fire response service alongside the government, the British Red Cross, and emergency services and said the initial response was "simply not good enough on the ground".

Eleanor Kelly, chief executive of Southwark council, and part of the newly established Grenfell Fire Response Team, said in a statement: "We want to make clear that whilst the emergency and local community response was nothing short of heroic, we know that the initial response was simply not good enough on the ground. People are angry, and rightfully so.

"Our focus is now ensuring those affected are being cared for and looked after.

"This new team is now leading the recovery and response to the Grenfell Tower fire, which has been one of the most tragic and horrendous events ever seen."

London local government has a resilience response that can be invoked when a major London incident like the Grenfell fire happens.

Yet the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea invoked this only on the afternoon of Friday 16 June – almost three days after the incident.



The response team, a coalition including the Metropolitan police and the London Fire Brigade, said it was currently responding to "what the community are telling us they need", adding that people who came to Westway Sports and Fitness Centre would be able to access services and support provided by a new team around the clock.

It said housing was the main priority and that by the end of Monday 19 June it is aiming to have contacted all known families affected by the fire and completed an assessment of what they need.

The response team said the latest information it has is that 201 households have so far received emergency accommodation to date, of which 113 are homeless – almost five days after the fire.

The Red Cross, which provides humanitarian aid in crisis zones, has been drafted in to provide community assistance and will be part of the teams allocated to every household affected.



BuzzFeed News first revealed earlier that officials from a nearby London council had said they were assuming control over aspects of the Grenfell Tower response operation – as accusations of mismanagement of the crisis mounted against Kensington and Chelsea council.



Volunteers and humanitarian charity workers were told by officials from Ealing council late on Saturday night there would be a complete handover to the west London authority – the same day the prime minister admitted support on the ground for survivors of the disaster "was not good enough".

Rupinder Hardy, a manager at Ealing council, had been called by Ealing emergency response team on Friday to assist with the Grenfell Tower crisis, and was at Westway Sports Centre visiting family and meeting with volunteers from 7am on Saturday morning until after midnight.

