The government failed to complete a review of fire safety guidance before the disaster in June 2017.
Lord Wharton - the minister responsible for building regulations at the time - said officials suggested delaying the review as part of a wider rewrite of the regulations.
An inquest coroner, Francis Kirkham, heard evidence that building designers were struggling to answer "relatively straightforward questions" about the safety of materials used to construct housing blocks, including Lakanal House. Lord Wharton told the inquiry he had no personal expertise in fire safety and relied on his officials who told him that the number of fires was falling, and it was better to do a longer and more detailed review of the regulations and guidance.
He said, repeatedly, that he "couldn't recall" many of the details of his thinking or actions at the time.
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