'A law for Liverpool' - how Labour will make a Hillsborough Law a reality

The Prime Minister will tomorrow announce the first stages the government is taking to deliver a Hillsborough Law, with recruitment beginning for an independent public advocate who will be deployed to the scene of future public disasters.

Sir Keir Starmer will set out how a Hillsborough Law, named in honour of the 97 Liverpool fans who lost their lives in the Sheffield stadium disaster of 1989 will become a reality. The change in law is one Hillsborough families have spent years campaigning for.

The government will now launch recruitment for the very first Independent Public Advocate to support victims in the wake of a major public disaster - a key pillar of a Hillsborough Law. The advocate will be deployed to the scene of any future public disaster, playing a pivotal role in ensuring victims, survivors, and bereaved families get the information and support they need.

READ MORE: Primary school free breakfast clubs to start in April next year

READ MORE: Transport Secretary can't commit to promised £12bn Liverpool-Manchester rail plan

The role will inform victims about sources of support, advice and services available to them and help them to understand actions taken by public authorities in relation to an incident, including how to navigate inquiries, inquests and other processes that may follow a public disaster. The advocate will also communicate with public authorities on behalf of victims. The advocate is expected to be in post by next summer.

The government has also confirmed it will introduce a legally-binding duty of candour on public servants and public authorities, with a range of with a range of sanctions for anyone who is found to have lied, mislead, or withheld information and including criminal sanctions for the most egregious breaches.

This is an absolutely crucial aspect of a Hillsborough Law package as it seeks to stop future victims of major disasters from facing the painful lies, smears and obfuscations that the families of the 97 were met with as they battled for decades to achieve truth and justice for their lost loved ones.

The new duty of candour will be supported by a Code of Ethics for public bodies and authorities to address the wider culture of defensiveness seen in the wake of public disasters like Hillsborough and Grenfell, and public scandals including Infected Blood, The Post Office and Windrush.

The Labour government will introduce this through a Bill in this parliamentary session. The government will also provide legal aid to victims of disasters or state related deaths. Labour committed to bringing in a Hillsborough Law in their manifesto, representing a huge victory for the families and all who campaigned with them for so long.

The government is now taking forward the recommendations made by Bishop James Jones in his 2017 report into the experiences of the Hillsborough families in the years following the disaster. The previous Conservative government shamefully dragged its heels for years on the subject, leaving the families of the 97 to continue to suffer without answers and real change.

The Prime Minister is expected to tell the conference tomorrow: "For many people in this city, the speech they may remember was the one here, two years ago. Because that was when I promised, on this stage, that if I ever had the privilege to serve our country as Prime Minister, one of my first acts would be to bring in a Hillsborough law – a duty of candour. A law for Liverpool. A law for the 97. A law that people should never have needed to fight so hard to get. But that will be delivered by this Labour Government.

“Today I can confirm that the duty of candour will apply to public authorities and public servants, that bill will include criminal sanctions, and that the Hillsborough law will be introduced to Parliament before the next anniversary in April.”