Ministers Poised To Demand Inquiry Recommendations Are Enforced
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3 min read
The government is considering introducing a new oversight body to ensure the recommendations of public inquiries are implemented, PoliticsHome understands.
Public inquiries are launched to investigate and learn lessons from major disasters or events. 18 public inquiries were underway last year, focusing on subjects like the coronavirus pandemic, the Grenfell Tower disaster and the infected blood scandal.
Such inquiries have often faced criticism for being overly expensive, lengthy and ineffective. While government generally accepts inquiries’ recommendations, implying they will be acted on, they often go unimplemented.
In September, a Lords committee inquiry into public inquiries found that had the recommendations from the inquiry into the 2009 Lakanal House fire been implemented, the Grenfell Tower disaster ten years later may have been prevented.
Now, government is discussing plans for a national oversight mechanism to ensure that recommendations from public inquiries are acted on, with talks happening at ministerial level across the Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office and No 10 to decide what form it will take, PoliticsHome understands.
A dedicated select committee or individual audit role are options being considered for the mechanism. It is thought the government is wary of creating another regulator to fulfill the role while it is trying to reduce Whitehall bureaucracy.
Legislation will be introduced in Parliament in the next few weeks to mark the anniversary of a fatal crowd crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in 1989. The Hillsborough Law will see officials or organisations that obstruct or mislead investigations potentially facing criminal charges.
Under plans under discussion, an announcement about the new oversight mechanism will chime in with the introduction of the law, PoliticsHome understands.
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer had previously tabled a Private Members Bill to establish a national oversight mechanism for investigations into state-related deaths, inquests, public inquiries and official reviews.
Denyer told PoliticsHome she was inspired to bring her bill forward by a young woman in her constituency who died after public services let her down.
“Her mum asked to meet me as soon as I was elected last year to ask for help in changing the law, because just like all bereaved families – including the families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Manchester Arena bombing – what she wants most of all is to stop more parents going through the grief she went through.”
She added: “I’m incredibly glad to see the government considering taking this matter forwards to ensure that preventable deaths are genuinely prevented."
A government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with those affected by the Hillsborough disaster and we will get them the justice they deserve.
“As he pledged in Liverpool, the Prime Minister is committed to bringing in the Hillsborough Law which will include a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those who refuse to comply. The Bill is on track to be introduced ahead of the next Hillsborough anniversary in April.”
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