Met to submit Grenfell files to CPS by September, 57 under investigation

The Metropolitan Police will send the Grenfell criminal file to prosecutors by 30 September 2026, with up to 57 individuals and 20 organisations now under investigation over the fire that killed 72 people in West London on 14 June 2017.

Detectives say the possible offences include corporate and gross negligence manslaughter, fraud, misconduct in public office and health and safety crimes. The case, codenamed Operation Northleigh, has become the force’s biggest and most complex investigation, a measure of how far the tragedy has reached into government oversight, construction practice and corporate decision-making.

The scale of the evidence helps explain the pace. Police say they have gathered and searched 165 million electronic files and taken 14,400 witness statements. They have also examined the role of 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations relevant to the case, while more than a year of forensic work at Grenfell Tower included dismantling and examining the building’s exterior.

The Metropolitan Police said 180 officers and staff remain dedicated to the investigation, which has also carried a heavy financial burden. The force has previously said it had retrieved more than 152 million documents and files, and that a full-size replica of part of the tower is being built at a cost of £2 million for court proceedings. The overall investigation has been estimated at around £150 million, a reminder that criminal accountability after a public disaster can become a sprawling, expensive process long before any charge is laid.

The Crown Prosecution Service has said specialist prosecutors will then need time to review the finished file and do not expect to be in a position to make charging decisions until the end of 2026. Police say they are confident those decisions will be announced before 14 June 2027, the 10th anniversary of the fire.

The Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry’s final report in September 2024 concluded the disaster was avoidable and blamed failings by government, the construction industry and the firms involved in fitting the tower’s flammable exterior cladding. For bereaved relatives and survivors, that finding sharpened the stakes: Grenfell United said the latest update was met with “caution, grief and determination,” while stressing that no family should have to wait more than 10 years for justice. The longer the process drags on, the more it tests confidence not only in one investigation, but in the broader system meant to protect residents in unsafe buildings.