London: British Prime Minister Theresa May's government has rejected demands that she appoint commissioners to run the local council blamed for mishandling the response to the London high-rise fire.
The rejection comes as the crisis deepens over who should be held accountable for the 80 deaths in the blaze.
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London mayor Sadiq Khan had asked May to take the unusual step because he said the elected council for the borough of Kensington and Chelsea has "lost the trust of local residents".
But installing commissioners there would place the fire tower crisis even closer to May and her Conservative Party, as it emerged that a building chief whose company produced the insulation panels that "failed all safety tests" on the building is an adviser to the government.
Mark Allen, a technical director for the British arm of Saint-Gobain, is a member of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee.
The body makes recommendations about building regulations to Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.
Company information for Saint-Gobain shows it as an owner of Celotex, which produced the insulation used in the tower.
The RS5000 insulation panels "failed all safety tests" when examined by police in the wake of the blaze, prompting Celotex to halt its supply for use in rainscreen cladding on buildings more than 18 metres high.
![London mayor Sadiq Khan leaves the funeral of Tony Disson, who died in the June 14 fire in Grenfell Tower.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/k/r/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
RS5000 was supplied for the £8.6 million ($15 million) refurbishment of Grenfell Tower and was coupled with Reynobond PE cladding, an aluminium-cased rain sheet which is also flammable.
The insulation, according to Celotex's website, has a Class 0 rating under British building regulations, meaning it has the highest rating for preventing the spread of flames and prevents the spread of heat.
![Mr Khan said the borough of Kensington and Chelsea had "lost the trust of local residents".](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/l/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
However, its "health and safety datasheet" notes: "The products will burn if exposed to a fire of sufficient heat and intensity."
Some 149 high-rise buildings have failed safety tests introduced after the Grenfell fire, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said.
![The remains of Grenfell Tower.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/l/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
"So far the cladding from 149 high rise buildings in 45 local authority areas have failed the tests. That continues to be a 100 per cent test failure rate," the spokeswoman told reporters.
Responding to reports that the public and media were not allowed into a council meeting on the Grenfell fire, May's spokeswoman said: "Our view is that access to democracy should always be easy.
![The coffin of 65-year-old Tony Disson is carried out of church in London.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/k/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
"There are rules that state that all meetings must be open to the public except in certain circumstances ... and we would have expected the council to respect that."
The council owns Grenfell Tower, a 120-apartment public housing complex that was destroyed in the June 14 fire, and is made up of 37 members of the Conservative Party, 12 from the Labour Party and one Liberal Democrat.
![A woman paints a sign calling for the conviction of Kensington and Chelsea Council for corporate manslaughter.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/l/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
Council leader Nick Paget-Brown resigned on Friday, saying he accepted responsibility for the "perceived failings" of the council and said its members would elect a new leader at its next meeting.
But Khan argued that all members of the council were tainted by its response to the disaster. Fire survivors and neighbourhood residents have protested, accusing local officials of ineptitude and a lack of concern for their plight.
![Retired Court of Appeal judge Martin Moore-Bick, who will lead the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/k/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
"It is crucial that the commissioners are people of high standing and probity, have a genuine empathy for local people and the situation they face and be untainted so that all residents of Kensington and Chelsea can have confidence in them," said Khan, a senior figure in the opposition Labour Party.
Javid said now was not the time for the central government to get directly involved.
![Demonstrators carry placards during the 'Not One Day More' march past Piccadilly Circus on July 1, calling for an end to ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170702201003im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/2/w/k/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx2v8v.png/1499002784871.jpg)
"We will be keeping a close eye on the situation," Javid said. "If we need to take further action, we won't hesitate to do so."
A judge-led public inquiry will be held into the causes of the tragedy.
May has faced public accusations of being insensitive to residents in the days after the blaze, but the council has been on the front line of the fury from residents as it deals with the nuts-and-bolts issues of helping hundreds of people obtain food, clothing and shelter.
Critics, however, say the Conservative government should be held accountable for deep budget cuts to local authorities that may have contributed to the disaster in the first place, such as cuts in fire services and inspections.
May is under pressure from ministers to end the government's economic austerity as a new poll shows her popularity has slumped, according to The Observer newspaper, with Health Minister Jeremy Hunt calling for government to drop a cap on public-sector pay rises for nurses and firefighters.
May's approval rating is now at minus 20 percentage points against a positive rating of 21 percentage points in April, according to a new Opinium survey for the newspaper.
AP, PA, Reuters