Peers criticise failure to follow up on public inquiry recommendations, saying it risks avoidable mistakes being repeated

Public inquiries are failing too often, “chiefly because when they report there is no obligation on government to act”, a House of Lords committee has warned.

In its report, Public inquiries: Enhancing public trust, the Statutory Inquiries Committee said: “At their best, public inquiries conduct detailed investigations, establish facts, find where mistakes have been made and who is culpable for them, and detail what lessons must be learned and what changes should be made by the Government.

“But too often inquiries are failing, chiefly because  when they report there is no obligation on government to act. It doesn’t have to give reasons for rejecting recommendations. And if it says it accepts them, there is no systematic means of monitoring implementation. Inquiries cannot themselves pursue government because the moment they report, they cease to exist. Hopes raised by the outcome of an inquiry can be dashed by government inaction.”

The committee recommended that:

• a new committee of Parliament be established to monitor the government response to inquiry recommendations and to ensure those that are accepted are implemented
• better decisions should be made at the start of an inquiry to expedite its work, reduce costs and ensure victims and survivors are properly involved. “Indicative timetables and sharing of best practices can prevent each inquiry effectively having to reinvent the wheel"
• the work started by the Inquiries Unit in the Cabinet Office should be built on to help ensure that there is a bank of information from which chairs and inquiry secretariats can be offered proven approaches.

Lord Norton of Louth, Chair of the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee, said: “’Lessons learned’ is an entirely vacuous phrase if lessons aren’t being learned because inquiry recommendations are ignored or delayed. Furthermore, it is insulting and upsetting for victims, survivors and their families who frequently hope that, from their unimaginable grief, something positive might prevail.

“So the monitoring and implementation of inquiry recommendations is essential. Additionally, public trust is lost where inquiries are unnecessarily protracted, and costs perceived to be excessive. The findings of this report aim to make inquiries as effective, cost-efficient and trusted as possible.”