00:00So we know this investigation has taken a long time to get to this point and it's
00:04taken almost nine years but that is because of the scale. To give an
00:08indication of the scale we were at Grenfell Tower for more than 14 months
00:13gathering evidence from the tower itself in the early days of our investigation
00:17and then and since then we've gathered more than 165 million files, electronic
00:22files, that we've had to search for. The evidence and the information supports our
00:28investigation and helps us to understand what's happened there alongside taking
00:32more than 14,400 witness statements as well to explain the circumstances that
00:40surround the investigation. So there are 20 suspects of organizations and companies
00:47and 57 individuals who are currently suspects. The charge we submitted to the
00:54CPS in September of this year, that number may change slightly as we do our
00:59final review but the point that we submit charge for us to the CPS will be around
01:03that number. And how significant today, you've referenced the long wait for the
01:08bereaved and survivors, how significant today is this for those families? Police
01:12said 165 million electronic files have been gathered and searched for evidence
01:20while 14,400 statements have been taken. The Mets has looked at the role of 15,000
01:28individuals and 700 organizations relevant to the investigation in what is the largest
01:35and most complex inquiry the force has ever carried out. The blaze in 2017 claimed the lives
01:45of 72 people and was found by a public inquiry to have been avoidable.
01:51So I can't begin to imagine what this wait has felt like for them. We know it's a long
01:57wait that's got to this point but it's so important that we get this investigation right
02:01in an investigation that is so complicated. This is a really significant day though. When we go to the
02:10CPS in September that marks the point where we're saying we've done enough of the investigation that
02:14they're able to take charging decisions and are able to decide whether or not criminal charges should
02:19be brought and against whom and what for. So this is a significant day that's taken. We acknowledge a
02:25long time to get here but it's really important that we do it in the most professional and diligent
02:30investigation possible to enable that justice is done. And how confident are you that charges will
02:36be brought against individuals or companies? Well of course charging decisions are a matter for the
02:42CPS and a matter of independence for the CPS that we're not involved in. But what we can see is
02:48that
02:48we've spent almost nine years now gathering evidence to enable them to do that and we've gathered strong
02:53evidence for a range of offences that will allow them to take those charging decisions.
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