Harriet Harman today told police and fire investigators to "get a move on" after it emerged a report into the causes of a south London tower block blaze in which six people died would not be completed for at least six months.
Lawyers representing relatives of those killed in the fire at Lakanal House, in Camberwell, voiced anger and said it was "unfair" that they should have to wait so long to find out what happened.
On the first day of the so-called "super inquest" into the July tragedy – which will take a wider than usual remit and is headed by a retired high court judge – the Metropolitan police said they were still carrying out forensic tests which would not be completed until mid-June.
The six victims, three of them children, were killed when fire spread rapidly through the 14-storey block, which was designed in the late 1950s.
Investigators are particularly looking to discover what caused the blaze to move so fast between several floors, trapping people in their flats.
Fire safety experts believe years of botched renovation work could have compromised the safety of the block, meaning criminal charges against the landlord, Southwark council, are possible.
Blocks such as Lakanal are built according to a principle known as compartmentalisation, in which each flat is supposed to be fire resistant for at least 60 minutes.
However, it is thought renovations over the decades jeopardised this.
Today's session, led by Sir Thayne Forbes, was a preliminary hearing to determine timetables. No date for the start of the full inquest has been set.
Harman, the leader of the Commons and the MP for Camberwell, said she had been told informally this might not be until 2011.
"It's not good enough. They need to get a move on," she said. "I think they need to account for what they are doing. They need to explain why they are taking so long."
The delay is also a cause of concern for residents of similar buildings – notably those in a block adjoining Lakanal – who still do not know why the fire spread so fast.
"It's a day-to-day concern for the people living there, who saw the bodies being taken out, who have to go to bed every night worried about their safety and that of their children," Harman said.
Louise Christian, a solicitor representing Rafael Cerves, whose wife, son and stepdaughter died in the blaze: "We don't even know when the inquest will begin. I think the coroner could have pressed the police for a proper timescale at the very least. It's very unfair on the families."
Experts in tower block fire safety are concerned that the problems at Lakanal are replicated in hundreds of other high-rise buildings around the UK,
"It's very important that we see at least some interim reports from the investigation," said Sam Webb, a retired architect who led the UK's first-ever national survey of tower block fire safety.
"This isn't only an issue for Southwark – it's something for landlords around the whole country."
Helen Udoaka, 34, her three-week-old daughter, Michelle, Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her children Filipe, three, and four-year-old Thais, and 31-year-old Catherine Hickman died in the blaze.
Hickman's father, Pip, described how his daughter, a fashion designer, died after being advised by a fire brigade officer to stay in her flat and wait for help.
Her body was found a few feet from her front door, with her keys in her hands. The next-door family, who ignored the advice and left the building, survived.
