Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she last met with the families involved with the Essex Mental Health Statutory Public Inquiry.

The Department announced on 28 June 2023 that the Essex Mental Health Inquiry was converted to a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. This is now known as the Lampard Inquiry.

This is an independent inquiry and the decision to make payment of any legal fees for work on the statutory inquiry is a matter for the Chair, Baroness Kate Lampard. As such, the Department does not get involved with the decision to award fees for legal work on this inquiry. The Department has no legal basis for payment of any legal fees incurred for any work before the conversion of the inquiry to a statutory footing.

The Chair of the inquiry launched a public consultation on the terms of reference for the inquiry in November 2023, whereby families and other stakeholders had the opportunity to represent their views on the proposed terms of reference. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, would welcome a meeting with the families to discuss the terms of reference. The meeting will be arranged in due course.