Five Key Considerations for Local Government Under the Hillsborough Law

The Hillsborough Law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, was introduced to Parliament on September 16 2025.

The Hillsborough Law introduces a new legal and honest framework for public authorities and their officials. Duty of candour is something you might be more familiar with in a medical context, following the longstanding obligation on medical professionals to act with honesty and transparency even where things have gone wrong. The Hillsborough Law places this duty as a legal obligation for public officials to act with honesty, transparency, and integrity, particularly during investigations, inquests, and public inquiries. 

Below we consider five key areas of you to consider in light of the introduction of this bill:

1. Make Candour a Core Organisational Value

To be truly effective and implemented, candour is going to need to be embedded across the local government – from top to bottom.   All staff should be aware of the duty and be sure they can and are encouraged (indeed must) be proactively open, particularly (as set out above) in respect of inquests and public inquiries. For many councils, these values are already set out in professional standards—this is more about formalising and reinforcing existing expectations.

Some practical tips could be to consider:

• integrating candour into codes of conduct, induction programmes, and leadership expectations.
• promote openness in decision-making, especially when things go wrong.
• encouraging staff at all levels to speak up without fear of reprisal.
• ensure that all officers, particularly those involved in regulatory, safeguarding, and emergency response functions, understand their obligations to act with honesty, openness, and integrity in all dealings with the public, especially during investigations and inquiries.

2. Prepare for Inquiries and Inquests with Transparency (not Defensiveness) in Mind

It is perhaps understandable that local authorities can adopt a defensive approach when dealing involved in inquests or public inquiries—whether related to social care, housing, public health, or emergency response. Many local authorities already have protocols for responding to inquiries—this law simply raises the bar for transparency and accountability.

Under the new law you must have regard to:

• awareness that all records, communications, and decisions must be preserved and disclosed honestly (this means proactively, not waiting to be asked by another party).
• attempts to withhold, distort, or delay information could lead to criminal liability.
• ensuring that not just your legal but also your communications teams are trained to prioritise truth over reputation management.

3. Review Legal Representation and Support for Families

The Hillsborough Law  sets to address inequality—ensuring that bereaved families are not outmatched by publicly funded legal teams. Some councils already take a compassionate approach to legal representation—this is a chance to make that the norm, not the exception.

We would recommend that you:

• reassess how you approach legal representation at inquests.
• avoid  deliberately combative, defensive and adversarial legal tactics.

There has been much commentary on the principle being to ensure that families are treated with understanding and fairness throughout the process.

4. Strengthen Internal Reporting and Whistleblowing Mechanisms

To support a culture of openness, there have been many recommendations that local authorities should review (perhaps more importantly ‘promote’) their whistleblowing polices. This includes:

• not simply reviewing whistleblowing policies to ensure they are accessible and protective but proactively ensuring staff are properly aware of the policy.
• Providing clear routes for reporting wrongdoing or institutional failures.
• Ensuring that whistleblowers are supported, not sidelined.

Most councils already have whistleblowing policies in place—this is about ensuring they are visible, trusted, and actively used. The law reinforces the importance of internal challenge and early disclosure of wrongdoing. 

5. Audit and Reform Record-Keeping and Information Governance

Of course good record-keeping is already a legal requirement—this law adds clearer consequences for failures and greater emphasis on proactive disclosure.  Accurate, accessible records are the foundation of accountability. Councils should:

• conduct audits of record-keeping practices across departments.
• ensure that digital and paper records are retained in line with legal obligations.
• train staff on the importance of documentation, especially in high-risk areas like safeguarding, housing, and emergency planning.

Failure to disclose relevant information (even where this is down to inadequate or broken systems) may well now carry criminal consequences.

Conclusion

For local government, the Hillsborough Law will require more than procedural change. It needs to be actioned proactively not simply reacting the moment on a specific inquiry or inquest.