The House of Lords reports on the operation of public inquiries

The Statutory Inquiries Committee published its report “Public inquiries: Enhancing public trust”. The headline is that it recognises that public inquiries can deliver change for victims, survivors and the public, but recommends that the wider governance structure needs significant improvement. 

There are 18 public inquiries happening this year, each with a significant amount of public interest. The House of Lords’ report recognises that public inquiries can establish facts, determine accountability, establish where lessons must be learned, and recommend changes to the Government. But the Committee criticises how recommendations publicly accepted by the Government are often not subsequently implemented. The Committee found that this lack of implementation risks the recurrence of disasters and undermines the inquiry process. 

There are five key recommendations: 

1. The formation of a new, joint select committee to oversee public inquiries, monitor the publication of recommendations and hold the Government to account to ensure accepted inquiry recommendations are implemented. 
2. Better decision making at the start of inquiries with the intention of reducing costs and improving procedure. It suggests that when establishing an inquiry, the sponsoring Minister should consider including an indicative deadline in the terms of reference, bearing in mind the particular purpose of and aim of the inquiry. 
3. Appointing chairs who are not judges, or selecting a panel, to encourage subject-area expertise. It also suggests Ministers should more regularly consider the strengths of the non-statutory inquiry model.  
4. Regular, public updates on inquiry work and where appropriate, longer inquiries should publish interim reports. It recommends that Ministers could consider including in the terms of reference a requirement to publish updates on the inquiry’s website about inquiry activity, to help maintain public trust and ensure greater accountability. 
5. Sharing of best practice in setting up and running inquiries needs to be improved. The work started by the Inquiries Unit in the Cabinet Office should be built upon to develop an efficient bank of information for those involved in inquiries to utilise. 

Read the report in full here.

This summary has been written by Charlotte Whitaker, Gemma Ludgate and Evelyn Quinn.