Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recent announcement by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing regarding the findings of The Report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing are independent of Government and independently published their response to Bishop James Jones’ report on the experiences of the Hillsborough families on 31 January 2023.

Whilst the timing of the Government’s response has been impacted by the need to avoid risk of prejudice during the Hillsborough criminal proceedings, work has been underway within the relevant departments and organisations to carefully consider and address those points of learning directed at the Government.

The Government has worked closely with police colleagues to consider and address the points of learning for which responsibility spans both government and policing, to improve the systems that are in place to ensure police officers account for their actions.

The Government is committed to engaging with the Hillsborough families prior to publication of its full response in due course.