As the recently introduced and long awaited Public Authority (Accountability) Bill makes its way through the Commons, Garden Court barrister Patrick Roche sets out how campaigners reached this historic milestone and what it could mean for institutional accountability. Drawing on his experience representing Hillsborough families, he looks at why the Bill matters and where it falls short, and calls ministers and Parliament to work with campaigners to ensure the legislation delivers lasting change.
The first reading of the Hillsborough Law or Public Office (Accountability) Bill in Parliament last week was a truly historic moment. The Bill aims to end State cover ups and to ensure that bereaved families are finally guaranteed legal aid in inquests where the State is represented.
The Bill represents a massive legacy for the 97 who died as a result of the Hillsborough Disaster in April 1989. The families of the 97 and survivors had to wait until 2016 for the renewed Inquests to conclude that the 97 were unlawfully killed and that Liverpool fans played no part in causing the disaster. The delay resulted from the lies told by the Match Commander David Duckenfield and South Yorkshire Police (SYP), aided and abetted by West Midlands Police. SYP blamed the fans when they knew that, as Lord Taylor had already found in his Inquiry, the police were principally to blame and that the fans played no part in causing the disaster. Other agencies such as the Ambulance Service also concealed their failures. In the initial inquests in 1991 the Hillsborough Families did not receive any legal aid despite the phalanx of State lawyers representing the Police. They had to raise money themselves to pay for a single barrister representing less than half of the families.
Recent scandals over the last decade have underlined the need to change the law to deter institutional cover ups. These include the Post Office scandal, the Infected Blood scandal, and the Manchester Arena Inquiry which concluded that MI5 had suppressed evidence for 6 years. Campaigners from these and many other struggles and Inquest have strongly supported the campaign for Hillsborough Law.
The Hillsborough Law Now campaign (HLN) was set up by Pete Weatherby KC and Elkan Abrahamson of Broudie Jackson and Canter after the Inquests concluded in 2016. This was not only a response to the original cover up but to the Inquests lasting over 2 years as a result of SYP conniving with the representatives of senior officers in an attempt to divert attention from their failings by smearing the fans again.
It has taken 9 further years of protracted campaigning to get to this point. As ever the driving force has been the determination of the families and survivors to effect real change. Together with HLN, they have had to confront those within Government who feared the impact of an effective Duty of Candour backed by criminal sanctions. Pete Weatherby KC of Garden Court North and Elkan Abrahamson at Brodie Jackson Canter were relentless in pushing the case for this change on a clause by clause basis. Marcia Willis-Stewart of Birnbergs and I were among the lawyers supporting them.
The Bill meets the three tests set down by the campaign of a Duty of Candour, criminal sanctions for non-compliance and funding for bereaved families at inquests.
The Bill imposes a duty on public authorities to notify the person leading an inquiry or investigation where they have grounds to believe that their acts may be relevant or they otherwise have information likely to be relevant.
The Bill also creates new duties to proactively inform investigations of relevant information, and prevents authorities, corporations or officials from sitting back and waiting to see whether their wrongdoing or failures have been identified. This is a big step forward but is limited to statutory inquiries, inquests, non-statutory inquiries established by Ministers, with a discretion it to extend it to other investigations. The Government has committed to extending this duty by amending the Bill in Parliament.
Failure to comply with the duty of candour is a criminal offence. This is critical to the effectiveness of the legislation but the current criminal offence is drafted too narrowly and should be improved during the parliamentary process. There is a separate criminal offence where a public authority or official acts with the intention of misleading the public or are reckless as to doing so and they know, or ought to know, that their act is seriously improper. The additional conditions for criminality in the Bill are unsatisfactory and also require amendment, particularly the requirement that the Defendant must have caused, or contributed to causing potential harm to one or more persons.
The duty of candour will apply to the Security Services. It will also apply to service providers who had a contract with a public authority and to bodies with a health and safety responsibility in connection with the incident. The latter would have applied to a number of the corporate bodies who were implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The Bill also states that bereaved families will get non means tested legal aid for inquests which is a huge break through. The objective of parity between lawyers for the bereaved and State lawyers has not yet been fully achieved. The funding for State lawyers will not be capped. Capping their funding would have saved a significant amount of public money. There is a provision to allow families to make submissions about the over representation of State lawyers in inquests but we will have to see how this works in practice.
The Bill provides a real opportunity to change the all too familiar culture of institutions routinely lying to conceal their failings. The campaign will continue with careful scrutiny of the parliamentary process. The families have made it clear that they are fully committed to ensuring that the Bill is not watered down during its passage through Parliament. Ministers have promised that they will work with the families to improve the Bill during its passage through Parliament. This is a critical commitment if the Bill is to have the full impact it should.
Even after the Bill is passed there will need to be involvement from the campaign and their legal team in the drafting of the Code of Practice for public officials envisaged by the Bill and monitoring the way in which the courts apply the provisions of the Act including the requirement for Position Statements.
The criminal trials which followed the recent Inquests marked a new low for the families when no police officers were convicted. Last week was a welcome break through and yet another vindication of the continued determination of families and survivors to achieve an effective legacy for the 97. They are anxious for the Bill to be passed as speedily as possible.
Patrick Roche has represented Hillsborough families since 2012. He was one of the leading counsel for the families in the Hillsborough inquests and has over 30 years’ experience practising in high profile inquests, public law cases and in criminal defence.
He is ranked Tier 1 for Administrative Law and Human Rights in Legal 500 2025 and also ranked in Police Law in both Legal 500 and Chambers UK 2025.
