Agreement on Hillsborough Law could come in weeks, peers told

The Government is “hopeful” it can come to an agreement on a Hillsborough Law with the families impacted by the disaster “in the coming weeks and months”, Parliament has heard.

Speaking from the Government frontbench, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede said talks “have been going positively”, as peers raised concerns the duty of candour element of the proposed law is being watered down.

Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti said the families of the 97 football fans who died following the 1989 incident feel “less positive” about its discussions with the Government.

The deadly crush occurred during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield.

The proposed law would require public bodies to have a duty of candour, meaning they would need to co-operate with official inquiries and tell the truth in the aftermath of major disasters – or face criminal sanctions.

A previous deadline set by Labour, that the Bill would be passed before the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April, has been missed.

The Government had said it needed more time to finalise the Bill.

A draft Bill has been criticised by campaigners, including the Hillsborough Law Now group, for not containing pledges previously made – including the duty of candour.

Lady Chakrabarti told the upper chamber on Thursday: “I’m grateful to (the minister), as always, for repeating the Government’s commitment to introduce Hillsborough Law, but I’m afraid that the families and their representatives feel a little less positive about the engagement they had so far.

“Some worry that they’ve been briefed against to the newspapers, and generally speaking, they worry about the dilution that … Lord Storey has warned against.”

Lord Ponsonby said he was “sorry to hear that”, adding: “I am aware of very recent interaction with the families in Liverpool, and what I understand is those talks have been going positively, and it is very much hoped that we able to reach some form of agreement in the coming weeks and months.”

He had earlier said: “Since March, we have listened to stakeholder feedback to ensure that we deliver the best Bill possible.

“This engagement has been constructive and progress has been made. Engagement is ongoing and will continue over the summer.”

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Storey said: “Would he give a clear commitment there will be no watering down of that duty of candour intent when the Bill is published?”

Lord Ponsonby replied: “The Prime Minister has made a personal commitment to the affected families to work with them constructively to come up with an appropriate law.

“Regarding the duty of candour, the Government is clear that what happened following the Hillsborough disaster must never happen again.

“Under the Hillsborough Law, public officials will be bound by duties of candour with criminal and professional consequences.

“We are committed to achieving a true cultural change. The Bill cannot change culture on its own, but it can and should act as a catalyst, and we remain committed to launching a programme to encourage cultural change alongside the Bill.”