MPs move to approve Hillsborough law after years of delay

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, was moving to approval after repeated delays over how far a new duty of candour should reach inside the state. The legislation would force public servants and public authorities to act truthfully, fully support investigations and give bereaved families stronger legal support at inquests.

The Ministry of Justice introduced the bill to Parliament on 16 September 2025, and the House of Commons gave it a second reading on 3 November 2025. Its report stage and third reading were then postponed in January 2026 amid objections over whether the duty should apply to intelligence and security services, including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. Ministers said they needed to strike the right balance between transparency and national security.

At its core, the bill would place a statutory duty of candour and assistance on public authorities and officials in inquiries and inquests. It would require them to tell the truth, help investigations properly and stop the kind of obstruction that plagued major state failures. It would also deliver a large expansion of legal aid for bereaved families, including non-means-tested help at inquests where a public authority is represented.

The law takes its name from the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield on 15 April 1989, when a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest left 97 fans dead at Hillsborough Stadium. The 2016 inquests later found that the victims were unlawfully killed and concluded that 96 people died in the disaster itself.