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Research & Analysis Published 18 Nov 2025 ↗ View on Parliament

Hillsborough Law — House of Lords Library

The government has committed to introducing a 'Hillsborough Law', placing a legal duty of candour on public servants and providing legal aid for victims of state related deaths and disasters.

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Hillsborough Law - House of Lords Library

Table of contents

1. Background

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1.1 Hillsborough disaster and subsequent investigations

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1.2 What is the ‘Hillsborough Law’?

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2. Public Office (Accountability) Bill

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3. Read more

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Approximate read time10 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 13 November 2025:

Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) to ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in the development of the proposed ‘Hillsborough Law’.

1. Background

1.1 Hillsborough disaster and subsequent investigations

The 2024 Labour Party manifesto included a commitment to tackle “historical injustices”, stating:

Labour will introduce a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities, and provide legal aid for victims of disasters or state related deaths.

[1]

The law takes its name from the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 97 people died and hundreds were injured following a fatal crush of Liverpool football fans at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.

[2]

There have been several investigations into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in the two decades following the event. These include the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, criminal and disciplinary investigations, inquests into the deaths of the victims, judicial reviews, judicial scrutiny of new evidence conducted by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, civil litigation, and the private prosecution of the two most senior police officers in command on the day of the disaster.

In addition, the then home secretary Alan Johnson announced the creation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel in December 2009. Chaired by James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, the panel sought to oversee “maximum possible public disclosure of governmental and other agency documentation on the events that occurred and their aftermath”.

[3]

The panel’s final report in 2012 highlighted the “profound concern” of families following unsubstantiated allegations made by police and reported in the press, which suggested Liverpool fans’ behaviour had contributed to, if not caused, the disaster. It noted:

[…] many bereaved families and survivors considered that the true context, circumstances and aftermath of Hillsborough had not been adequately made public.

[4]

Following the report, the then attorney general Dominic Grieve successfully applied to review the original inquests that had returned verdicts of accidental death in 1991.

[5]

Subsequent inquests which concluded in 2016, returned verdicts of unlawful killing.

[6]

1.2 What is the ‘Hillsborough Law’?

Since the disaster, and the prolonged investigations into it, there have been several calls for legislation to improve the treatment of survivors and their families in disasters such as Hillsborough. As noted in a recent Joint Committee on Human Rights report:

The terrible suffering of the families of the 97 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster was compounded by a protracted failure over the following decades to uncover and acknowledge the truth of what happened and the mistakes made, and to start to apply some of the lessons learnt.

[7]

In March 2017 a private member’s bill was introduced by Andy Burnham, then Labour MP for Leigh. The

Public Authority (Accountability) Bill 2016–17

included a code of ethics requirement for public authorities, a duty of candour for civil servants and parity of access to legal advice and representation to ensure a fair hearing. Introducing the bill, Mr Burnham stated:

Hillsborough must be a watershed moment in this country—a point in history when the scales of justice are tipped firmly in favour of ordinary families fighting for loved ones. That is what the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, or Hillsborough Law, seeks to achieve. It is a powerful bill proposed and supported by all the Hillsborough families, and by the Hillsborough Family Support Group and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. It has been developed with the help of their lawyers, and I pay particular tribute to Pete Weatherby, QC.

[8]

The bill fell awaiting second reading.

In addition, in 2017 Bishop James Jones, chair of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, published ‘

‘The patronising disposition of unaccountable power’: A report to ensure the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough families is not repeated

’. The report included 25 recommendations across a range of subjects including a charter for families bereaved through public tragedy, a pressing need for proper participation of bereaved families at inquests and the establishment of a ‘duty of candour’ for police officers.

[9]

In May 2024, prior to the general election, the Joint Committee on Human Rights published the report ‘

Human rights and the proposal for a “Hillsborough Law”

’ which repeated calls for a Hillsborough Law. It said this should include:

[10]

a broad statutory duty of candour

a statutory guarantee of proportionate funding for bereaved family members to assist them to participate in inquests and inquiries

a standing public advocate to provide timely support through “the often daunting maze of rules and procedures that follow major incidents”

2. Public Office (Accountability) Bill

The 2024 Labour Party manifesto included a commitment to introduce a Hillsborough Law. In his speech to the Labour Party conference in 2024, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reaffirmed his commitment to a Hillsborough Law, which he said would be introduced in Parliament in advance of the 36th anniversary of Hillsborough in April 2025. He also acknowledged the broader background to the legislation stating:

It’s also a law for the sub-postmasters in the Horizon scandal. The victims of infected blood. Windrush. Grenfell Tower. And all the countless injustices over the years, suffered by working people at the hands of those who were supposed to serve them. Truth and justice concealed behind the closed ranks of the state.

[11]

However, concerns were raised that there had been delays in bringing forward the bill potentially due to disagreements about its content.

[12]

Responding to the May 2024 report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in February 2025, the current Labour government reaffirmed its commitment to introducing legislation to “deliver on the proposals for a ‘Hillsborough Law’” in this parliamentary session.

[13]

The government introduced the

Public Office (Accountability) Bill

in the House of Commons on 16 September 2025. The explanatory notes to the bill confirm that it:

[…] gives effect to the commitment in the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto to introduce a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will “place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities and provide legal aid for victims of disasters or state related deaths”.

[14]

The bill would:

create a statutory “duty of candour and assistance” (a legal obligation to act transparently) for public authorities and officials when engaging with inquiries, inquests and similar investigations

create a framework to ensure ethical conduct in public authorities including mandatory codes of conduct

create new criminal offences of failing to uphold the duty of candour and assistance and misleading the public

create two new statutory offences to replace the common law offence of misconduct in public office

introduce “parity of representation” for bereaved families at inquests involving public authorities

For a more detailed analysis of the bill, its background and reactions to it see the House of Commons Library briefing, ‘

Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024–26

’ (23 October 2025).

During a recent debate on the duty of candour for public authorities and legal representation for bereaved families the government stated:

[…] the government committed to bringing forward a bill ahead of the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, on 15 April this year. We did not meet that deadline, and I regret that. Any further delay simply compounds and prolongs the families’ fight to ensure that nothing like Hillsborough can happen again.

The government worked with campaigners on a draft bill, and when it became evident that that bill would not fulfil the aims of the campaign, or meet the expectations of the families, we decided to take more time and get this important piece of legislation right—to deliver a legacy, to deliver a bill that is truly worthy of being called a Hillsborough Law […] The bill will help to ensure that what happened following the Hillsborough disaster will never take place again, and it will undoubtedly change the culture in public authorities for the better.

[15]

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons on 3 November 2025.

3. Read more

Constitution Society, ‘

Implementing the Hillsborough LawPragmatism or betrayal?

’, 29 April 2025

Institute for Government, ‘

The Hillsborough lawA duty of candour needs more than legislation to work

’, 28 March 2025

Joint Committee on Human Rights, ‘

Human rights and the proposal for a “Hillsborough Law”

’, 24 May 2024, HL Paper 119 of session 2023–24; and

‘Government response’, 3 March 2025

Image creditTerry Robinson / Hillsborough Disaster Memorial – 2, Hillsborough, Sheffield