‘Hillsborough law’ explained after new rule unveiled 36 years since football disaster

State agencies will be required to comply with public inquiries under a bill introduced tomorrow, the Government has said.

The ‘Hillsborough law’ is the result of decades of campaigning by families of victims of the 1989 disaster, in which 97 fans were killed in a crush.

Under the new legislation, state bodies and public officials will be required to fully cooperate with investigations and tell the truth.

It will also give all bereaved families non-means-tested legal aid during inquiries in which the state is involved, such as the investigations into the Grenfell Tower fire and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sir Keir Starmer said the bill, which was promised in Labour’s manifesto last year, would ‘change the balance of power in Britain’.

‘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’, he said.

‘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.’

He added that the new law would help other victims, including sub-postmasters who suffered from the Horizon scandal and patients affected by the infected blood scandal.

The prime minister will host victims’ families and campaigners at Downing Street on Tuesday morning to mark the bill being laid before Parliament.

Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city, said the bill was a ‘landmark moment, not just for our city, but for the whole country’.

He said: ‘The tabling of The Hillsborough Law is the biggest victory for ordinary people campaigning and organising together in generations – and the most important change in how our justice system treats ordinary citizens – since the Human Rights Act.

‘We must never forget that while it was Liverpool supporters who went to Hillsborough that day, the tragedy touched families and communities right across the country. But the same injustices had, and continue to be, a stain on our country’s reputation for fairness and justice.

‘Until today.’

Rotheram added that the new law is about ‘rebalancing the scales of justice’ and would ensure bereaved families of other scandals will not have to face the same ordeal to have their voices heard.

This includes when 72 people died in a fire at Grenfell Tower. The local authorities were accused of having ignored warnings from the tenants over the flammable cladding covering the west London flat complex.

Natasha Elcock, the chair of Grenfell United, said: ‘The denial and cover-up after Grenfell should never have been allowed to happen.

‘Instead of accepting responsibility, we saw so many institutions and companies trying to protect their reputation after 72 people died.
 
‘It has been so easy for public and private agencies to escape accountability and scrutiny.

‘By establishing a duty of candour, Hillsborough Law will prevent this, help us learn from failures and ensure bereaved and survivors are properly supported.’

Julia Waters, the sister of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who tragically took her own life after her school was ranked ‘adequate’ in an Ofsted inspection, also welcomed the legislation.

The three public bodies involved in Perry’s case all received publicly funded legal aid, while her family had to resort to a crowdfunding campaign to cover legal costs at her inquest.

Waters said: ‘Hillsborough Law will help ensure families like mine are no longer left to fight for truth and accountability on our own – in the hope that those in power can finally be held responsible when things go catastrophically wrong.’

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