Public inquiries in the UK into disasters such as the Grenfell Tower fire are unduly long, expensive and their recommendations are often not implemented, according to a recent parliamentary report. 

As in many countries, such inquiries have historically played an important role in the UK government’s response to events of major public concern. In 2024 alone 18 public inquiries have taken place in the country, including those into the Omagh bombing, the Post Office Horizon IT scandal and the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

However, a report, published in September by the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee, found that inquiries ‘are wasting time and money by “reinventing the wheel” or repeating easily avoidable mistakes’ and ‘often fail to properly involve victims and survivors in the inquiry process’.  

Although inquiries are established to learn from past mistakes, Lord Norton of Louth, who led the report, said ‘lessons learned’ is ‘an entirely vacuous phrase if lessons aren’t being learned because inquiry recommendations are ignored or delayed.’  

Published a week after the Grenfell Inquiry’s final report, the Committee heard from witnesses that the tragedy at Grenfell Tower ‘may have been less likely to have occurred’ if recommendations had been implemented following the 2013 inquest into the Lakanal House fire. 

The report also recommends reforming the Cabinet Office Inquiries Unit and establishing a new committee to provide oversight of inquiries and ‘hold the government to account’ for implementing recommendations.  

Emma Jones, a partner specialising in public inquiries at Leigh Day in London, welcomes proposals for greater monitoring and reporting on governmental response to inquiries. She believes an independent oversight body would empower citizens to challenge the government when it fails to act and could potentially even lead to judicial review. ‘That’s very important for core participants,’ says Jones, ‘because they are the people that have sat through sometimes years’ worth of inquiry and welcomed a report only to see its recommendations vanish.’ 

The Committee also proposes establishing a timescale for inquiries to ‘avoid unnecessary and excessive costs’. Some UK inquiries incur eye-watering sums. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is a prime example, concluding in 2010 after 12 years and costing the taxpayer nearly £200m.  

Ken Murphy is Chair of the IBA Bar Issues Commission, a Member of the IBA Management Board and previously served as the Director General of The Law Society of Ireland. Despite the huge costs involved in public inquiries, Murphy says that ample time must be allowed for an inquiry to establish the facts and draw conclusions and recommendations as necessary. ‘Investigation of complex matters in depth simply takes time,’ he says. ‘It can’t be done quickly and it would be contrary to the whole purpose of a tribunal of inquiry to have it done in a superficial or slapdash way. It has to be done thoroughly and that takes time. We know that’s a source of frustration, but that’s the reality.’ 

Murphy says the report from the Committee and his own experience of inquiries in Ireland highlight the need for the terms of reference of every inquiry to be clear and tightly focused from the outset. ‘It was said that one of the reasons for the famous Beef Tribunal in Ireland, which went on for so many years, was that really the terms of reference were far too wide and too many issues were included,’ he says. Having far too many issues to investigate can threaten to derail an inquiry, ‘so the need to draw very, very tightly the terms of reference really is essential if you’re going to control the time and cost. I think that is inherent in the recommendations of the House of Lords as well’, says Murphy.  

Many inquiries result in hundreds of recommendations. Proposing a more manageable number could also increase their chances of being implemented, says Jones. She points to the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI), which concluded in May with just 12 recommendations issued by the inquiry chair, British judge Sir Brian Langstaff.  

Unusually, Langstaff also used his powers under the Inquiries Act to keep the inquiry open and monitor the government’s response, saying it should respond to his report ‘within 12 months’ and update Parliament on its progress before the end of 2024.’  

‘You can have a really thorough public inquiry, which produces a great report and great recommendations, but if nothing happens, then what’s the point and it becomes a colossal waste of public money,’ says Jones. ‘As Sir Brian has kept the Inquiry open, hopefully that won’t happen and if this body is set up that will give enhanced oversight to make sure recommendations are considered and implemented.’  

The government says it will update Parliament on its response to the IBI’s recommendations ‘by the end of the year’. More than £1bn in compensation has already been paid to victims of the scandal.   

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