Government to launch investigations into companies as part of response to last years report into disasterSeven organisations censured by the Grenfell Inquiry report for their part in the tragedy could find themselves on a debarment list for public sector contracts, the government has said.As part of its official response to the report today, the government announced it will use new powers under the Procurement Act to investigate immediately several firms criticised in the report.The seven firms include product manufacturers Kingspan, Arconic and former Celotex owner Saint Gobain,while the others are: fire engineer Exova, Harley Facades, Rydon Maintenance, the firm which was the main contractor on the Grenfell refurbishment, and Studio E, the architect for the work.Source: ShutterstockSeven firms involved in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment face being barred from government contractsAnnouncing the plan to parliament this afternoon, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said:To my disgust and their shame, some [companies] have shown little remorse and have refused to even help fix the building safety crisis which they did so much to create.Plans to bar Grenfell firms from taxpayer-funded work had already been mooted in the prime ministers initial response to the phase two report in September.At the time, Keir Starmer said he would write to the companies named and shamed in the report and promised they would not be handed government work in the future. But he was vague about which organisations, or even how many, would be affected.Today, the government announced that debarment investigations would soon be launched and that if certain grounds are met, the names of the identified firms would be added to a published list, which must be taken into account by contracting authorities when awarding new contracts.A written statement to parliament from Georgia Gould, parliamentary secretary to the Cabinet Office, explained the proposals further.She said the seven organisations would be notified when an investigation is launched under the new act and added that investigations into other organisations may be launched in due course and affected organisations will be notified accordingly.The laws governing public procurement in the UK were replaced earlier this week (24 February) after the Procurement Act 2023 came into force.We will make early use of the new powers in this Act that enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will, where appropriate, utilise to effectively hold organisations to account, said Gould.The new Act allows us to investigate suppliers and, if certain grounds are met, to add their names to a published and centrally managed debarment list, which must be taken into account by contracting authorities in awarding new contracts and undertaking new procurements.We want to act swiftly and decisively, and are committed, where appropriate, to pursuing meaningful action in respect of failings related to the Grenfell tragedy. Todays announcement marks an important step towards that.