One of the world's biggest accountancy firms has been sacked by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry over allegations of a conflict of interest.
KPMG, which was assisting the inquiry, had previously held contracts for three of the bodies at the centre of the inquiry, Kensington and Chelsea Council , Rydon Group, the contractor for the 2015 renovation of the tower block, and Celotex, the company which supplied the cladding during that renovation.
The company was axed by the inquiry late on Sunday (December 8) after singer Lily Allen and several other campaigners wrote an open letter to Theresa May urging her to reverse the appointment decision.
A spokesman for the inquiry said KPMG had been hired to provide "limited planning and programme management" during its "start-up phase".
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry
"The company has had no role in the inquiry's investigations or decision-making processes and its contract contained strict confidentiality clauses to ensure that there could be no conflicts of interest," a statement said.
"Following concerns expressed by some core participants, the inquiry team has discussed the contract with KPMG which has agreed that its work should now cease."
While the decision to terminate the firm's contract was mutual, the firm maintains there was no conflict of interest despite previous contracts with the bodies at the heart of the inquiry.
A spokesman for KPMG said: "We share the view that nothing should distract from the important work it is undertaking to better understand the causes of the tragedy at Grenfell Tower.
"We have therefore mutually agreed with the inquiry that we will step down from our role with immediate effect.
"We were appointed to advise on structuring a project management office for the Grenfell Tower public inquiry.
"Our role was purely operational and advised on project management best practice and had no role advising on the substance of the inquiry. We will waive our fees for our work undertaken to date."
The conflict of interest allegations were the latest to hit the inquiry, which has come under criticism since the appointment of retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick as its chairman.
Sir Martin was criticised for being "out of touch" with the survivors of the fire, many of whom come from diverse, deprived communities.
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