The housing role
Laura Johnson is the Barnet Group’s permanent director of development and property, with a salary of £157,078, according to the Guardian. The group manages 13,000 council homes in the borough.
Johnson was appointed permanently in August after holding the position on an interim basis. She had been director of housing at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea when the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in June 2017.
The Barnet Group said it knew about the inquiry’s findings when it assessed her application. It said the selection process also considered her professional experience, performance in subsequent work, references, qualifications and suitability for the post.
The refurbishment and fire-door findings
The Grenfell inquiry found that Johnson had pressed for a different contractor to undertake the tower’s refurbishment at a reduced cost. According to the Guardian’s account of those findings, the resulting savings ultimately involved replacing the planned metal cladding with combustible panels containing plastic.
The inquiry also found that Johnson delayed work to fit mechanisms that would close fire doors automatically. It attributed that delay to financial and practical considerations.
The London Fire Brigade had warned that the lack of those mechanisms compromised escape routes. The inquiry’s findings therefore covered both decisions affecting the external refurbishment and work on fire doors within the tower.
Survivors’ concerns and the employer’s response
Ed Daffarn, who escaped from Grenfell’s 16th floor, criticised the appointment. Before the fire, he had repeatedly raised concerns about serious fire risks at the building.
Daffarn told the Guardian that bereaved families and survivors were still waiting for justice nine years after the disaster. He contrasted that wait with the ability of people involved in senior decisions to continue holding well-paid social housing posts with health and safety responsibilities.
He argued that people named in the inquiry should not hold positions of authority while the police investigation remained unresolved. He also expressed concern for residents of Barnet’s council housing.
The Barnet Group defended its decision. It said the vacancy had been advertised publicly and Johnson had been selected from a competitive field. Its assessment was that she was the “strongest candidate” and legally able to take the job.
In a separate response, a group spokesperson said Barnet Homes and Barnet council would not comment on staff matters from previous employment. The spokesperson said residents’ safety and wellbeing remained its priority and expressed sympathy for those affected by the fire.
The criminal investigation
The Metropolitan Police said it was seeking charges against 57 individuals and 20 companies in connection with the fire. The individuals have not been publicly identified.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it expected to decide on charges by June 2027, the disaster’s 10th anniversary. That timetable concerns decisions on whether to bring charges, rather than the conclusion of the criminal justice process.
Grenfell United questioned why the appointment had been made permanent before that process was complete. The group, which represents survivors and bereaved relatives, said the decision failed to give proper weight to the inquiry’s findings.