The long-awaited Hillsborough Law has been introduced to Parliament, nearly ten years after it was first proposed in the aftermath of inquests into the 1989 disaster.
The legislation is intended to change how public bodies respond to major tragedies. Central to it is a statutory “duty of candour”, which requires officials to act with honesty, openness and integrity during investigations, inquests and public inquiries. Serious breaches of this duty could lead to criminal sanctions, with public servants who withhold or distort information facing prosecution.
Alongside this duty, the Bill creates a separate criminal offence of deliberately misleading the public in a way judged to be seriously improper. Ministers say this is intended to end a culture of cover-ups and to drive lasting cultural change across the public sector.
Another key element is an expansion of legal aid. If the Bill passes, bereaved families will be guaranteed non-means-tested legal support at inquests, which the government calls the biggest reform in a decade. The change is aimed at ensuring families are not left at a disadvantage when facing state authorities with far greater legal resources.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made the legislation a personal priority, having pledged in opposition that a Hillsborough Law would be one of his first acts in government. He said the Bill delivers on a promise he made to campaigner Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the crush at Hillsborough.
“Hillsborough will always be remembered for its tragedy and its disgraceful injustice,” he said. “But today it can also be remembered for the way it changed our country for the better. With this law, the state can never again hide from the people it is meant to serve.”
Some of the families and campaigners have been invited to Downing Street to mark the introduction of the Bill. Margaret Aspinall, who chaired the Hillsborough Family Support Group for many years, welcomed the legislation as the culmination of decades of campaigning.
“It’s been a long journey to get here,” she said. “This campaign wasn’t about just us, it is about the ordinary people of this country, hopefully this law will mean no one will ever have to suffer like we did.”
The government says the Bill is not just about Hillsborough, but about learning lessons from other scandals and disasters, including Orgreave, the Windrush scandal, the Grenfell Tower fire and the infected blood crisis. Ministers argue the new framework will embed transparency and fairness in the way public institutions respond when things go wrong.
The Bill also includes measures to restrict the level of public money that can be spent on legal representation for state bodies at inquests, to prevent what has long been seen by campaigners as an unfair mismatch in resources. Ministers argue this will ensure proceedings are more balanced and accessible to those most directly affected.
Officially titled the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, the government says the reforms will “close the chapter” on one of the darkest episodes in modern British history.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram, who was at Hillsborough on the day of the disaster, described the introduction of the Bill as “a landmark moment” and “the biggest victory for ordinary people campaigning and organising together in generations.” He said the law would help “rebalance the scales of justice” and ensure that families are never again left to fight alone.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “I speak from personal experience when I say disasters like Hillsborough and Grenfell are tragedies our nation continues to mourn. The scars left behind sit at the heart of this Bill – and I want to pay testament to those who have campaigned so long to affect real change.
“The changes we’re making will ensure truth and justice are never concealed again and brave families never again left fighting endlessly for the truth – and anyone caught trying to do so will face the full force of the law.”
The Bill will now proceed through the Commons and the Lords. With several stages of scrutiny still to come, campaigners believe it will be spring at the earliest before it is enacted.
