Ferret The short answer, at the moment, is the British Red Cross
Grenfell Tower Fire Support for People Affected
But the longer answer is I think that there was a lack of immediate, planned, co-ordinated emergency support on the ground. The local council wasn't able to do that. They didn't have good enough emergency planning, including properly trained and experienced staff in place. That is widely acknowledged now.
I think there are people/organizations who want to step up, to the point even of taking charge. But they are not allowed to assume that responsibility without permission.
I'll repost this article as it is pertinent British Red Cross responds to Grenfell
Excerpts from articles
"If these systems are not established and humanitarian needs are not met, it is more than understandable that people will get angry and feel let down. The operation following last week’s Grenfell Tower fire was intensely complex, and the truth of what happened will take time to come out in full. The question of whether the above steps were followed will have to be answered – we owe it to the community and to all those affected by this horrific fire.
Last week the British Red Cross was asked by Kensington and Chelsea council to send in volunteers in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and after that to help staff the rest centres. We stood ready to do more in the days that followed, but as a voluntary organisation we cannot self-deploy. We need to be invited in by the authorities.
When Gold Command, the new emergency services network in place to manage disasters, took control last Saturday, the Red Cross was asked to step up our role. This included more volunteers trained in providing practical and emotional support for every family involved, and helping to create a community assistance centre that would provide more wraparound care. Our 24/7 support line is now the central point of contact for people affected. We are trying to provide better, more joined-up information to the families through social media and on the ground."
So that to me seems to be painting an outline picture as follows...
Last week, RBKC asked the British Red Cross for help, but didn't empower them to take charge. And they also didn't take charge themselves. Then, later on, central government said "this isn't good enough" and sent in some people. This includes people from other councils in London, as well as civil servants. At that point, the British Red Cross was asked to step up and did so.
My gut feeling is that the initial delay in getting organized meant that additional problems had already been caused. Problems that could have been avoided if e.g. the Red Cross had been asked to step up earlier or some central co-ordination had been conducted swiftly.
The other thing worth noting about this is that in this type of situation, local background knowledge is key. So the British Red Cross don't have that, Ealing Council don't have that, nor do any of the other councils or civil service departments sent in. They don't know the area. By luck, some of the Red Cross Volunteers or employees of other councils might know something about the area, may have lived there before, but that's accidental, patchy, not planned, systematic, comprehensive. That must still be causing them huge problems, problems exacerbated by the fact that things had already been allowed to get out of hand for -years-- days by lack of co-ordinated response.