Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 was introduced in the House of Commons on 16 September 2025. It is widely referred to as the “Hillsborough Law”.

The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday 3 November 2025. Information on the second reading debate and the subsequent scrutiny of the bill in committee can be found in the House of Commons Library briefing paper: Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26: Progress of the bill.

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

The bill will require a money resolution in the House of Commons as it requires additional public expenditure on legal aid for bereaved family members at inquests where a public authority is named as an “interested person” and represented.

Explanatory notes (PDF) for the bill have been produced by the Ministry of Justice.

Hillsborough law: background

The bill draws on lessons from major incidents and scandals in which public bodies were alleged to have acted defensively or withheld information, including the Hillsborough disaster, the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, the Grenfell Tower fire and the infected blood scandal.

Campaigners and families affected by these incidents have long called for a statutory duty of candour and better support for bereaved families. The 2024 Labour manifesto and the 2024 King’s Speech committed to legislating on this matter.

What would the bill do? Duty of candour and assistance

The bill would impose an “always‑on” duty of candour and assistance on public authorities and officials in relation to inquiries and investigations.

Officials involved would be required to notify the person leading the investigation if their acts, or information they hold, may be relevant.

When issued with a “compliance direction” (a written instruction setting out what is required and by when), they would have to provide all assistance as could be reasonably given, including relevant information and corrections.

Existing legal protections (for example, legal professional) would be preserved.

Failure to comply, where done intentionally to impede the process or recklessly as to that risk, would be an offence, with a maximum penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment.

Ethical conduct in public authorities

The bill would require public authorities to promote and maintain high standards of ethical behaviour and to adopt, publish and keep under review a code of ethical conduct.

The codes of conduct would have to be based on the seven principles of public life (known as the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership). The codes would have to explain what acting with candour means in that organisation, set out disciplinary consequences for breaches, and include clear routes for internal reporting and whistleblowing.

Parity of representation

The bill would expand non‑means‑tested legal aid for bereaved family members to secure advocacy at inquests in England and Wales where a public authority is an “interested person”. This aims to address the perceived “inequality of arms” at inquests, whereby public authorities have been represented at taxpayer expense, while bereaved families have been unable to secure legal aid for representation.

The bill would also introduce a duty on public authorities to engage legal representatives only where considered necessary and proportionate. It would also enable guidance to be issued on the conduct of a public authority or its legal representatives and would enable concerns about conduct to be reported and monitored.

New offences

The bill would create a new offence of failing to uphold the duty of candour and assistance. This would apply across the UK and would attract a penalty of up to 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.

The bill would also create a new offence of misleading the public, which is intended to apply to the most serious acts of wrongdoing. The offence would apply only in England and Wales and would attract a penalty of up to 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.

The bill would create two statutory offences to replace the current common law offence of misconduct in public office. The offence of breaching the duty to prevent death or serious injury would attract a penalty of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, while the offence of seriously improper conduct would attract a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Both offences are intended to capture the most serious acts of wrongdoing. Both offences would apply only in England and Wales.