Hillsborough Law – Update

Today will finally see the Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2025, better known as ‘Hillsborough Law’ being laid before Parliament. It has been a long road, almost eight and a half years since Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham, now Metro Mayors of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, laid the original Hillsborough Bill before Parliament, for its first reading. Indeed, Steve Rotherham has spoken of this moment in legal history as ‘the biggest victory for ordinary people in generations – and the most important change in how our justice system treats ordinary citizens - since the Human Rights Act.’ The Hillsborough families have of course since been joined by those impacted by disasters such as Grenfell and the Manchester Arena bombing, but also by those impacted by the Post Office scandal.

At its core, the Bill will place a legal duty of candour on public officials and authorities to prevent the issues of cover up exposed following the likes of the Hillsborough disaster and the Post Office scandal. It will enshrine a duty of candour, to be enforced by criminal sanctions.

The Bill also importantly provides for a duty to assist – applying to inquests and inquiries - meaning proactive production of documentation at the earliest reasonable point, again backed by criminal sanctions. 

In a move described by Pete Weatherby KC as a substantial rebalancing of the scales of justice, the Bill also finally includes an extension of means tested public funding for bereaved families who appear as interested persons at an inquest where the state itself is represented. No one can question the equality or logic behind this proposal. As the Law Society Gazette reports there is no more ‘David v Goliath’. 

INQUEST, a charity providing expertise on state related deaths and their investigations, have long campaigned for the unfair restrictions in place in respect of the legal aid scheme to be addressed to deal with the imbalance in representation between bereaved families and state players. The Right Reverend James Jones KBE in his report in 2017, described the experience of the Hillsborough families whenever they have sought to challenge those in authority as ‘the patronising disposition of unaccountable power’. 

Bevan Brittan frequently represent clients in inquests, acting for both NHS and independent sector providers, and we advise organisations engaged by public inquiries.  We welcome the changes set out in the Bill as an important step to increasing access to justice for victims and their families.