Legislation will finally be brought in to implement the long-awaited Hillsborough Law, the government has announced.
A legal duty of candour will be placed on public officials and authorities to prevent the type of cover-up seen following the Hillsborough disaster, where 97 Liverpool football fans lost their lives, and also the Post Office and infected blood scandals.
Bereaved families will also have publicly-funded representation at inquests, ensuring they are on a more equal footing with local authorities who are able to instruct lawyers. The government said this pledge represents the largest expansion of legal aid in a decade.
The changes were pledged by the current government before the general election in July 2024 and there were starting to be questions asked about why the process was taking so long.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said the law needs to change to prevent victims of any future disasters from facing smears and lies about their loved one, and to make sure they have their voice heard during inquest proceedings.
He added: ‘Hillsborough will always remain in our national consciousness for its tragedy and disgraceful injustice. But today it can also be remembered for the way it changed our country for the better. Because with this law, we are changing the balance of power in Britain and ensuring that the state can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve.
‘Make no mistake - this a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the sub-postmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire.’
A legal duty will be placed on public bodies to ensure their spend is always proportionate, stopping the state from hiding behind unjustifiably large legal teams at inquests.
As part of new guidance, expectations will also be established on how state bodies and their representatives should participate at inquests. This will ensure the state conducts itself with openness and honesty and acts with the sole purpose of helping the coroner establish the facts of the case to deliver answers for victims and their families.
The bill will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday.
Elkan Abrahamson, of law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, who is one of the architects of the bill, and a director of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, said the legislation could transform the face of British justice.
‘This has been the longest of journeys for those who have fought for justice. It began with the Hillsborough families, whose resolve has never wavered, and grew into a movement to level the playing field between the state and its people,’ he said. ‘We will now scrutinise the bill as it makes its passage through parliament, so we’re not quite there yet. But today is still a momentous step, owed entirely to the persistence of campaigners and their refusal to give up.’
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