Recommendation 24

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government believes that inquests should remain inquisitorial in nature and that legal representation should not be necessary at all inquests. However, the Government will be considering its approach to legal aid for inquests as part of its response to Bishop James Jones’ report of his review of the Hillsborough families’ experiences. We agree that there are some cases where representation should be granted and these are currently funded through our ECF scheme. We agree that in these cases, access to legal aid should be as simple and easy for bereaved families as possible which includes limiting the burdens of a financial means assessment. We are therefore pleased to announce that we will be taking forward legislation to remove the means test for applications for ECF in relation to legal representation at inquests. Further, we are proposing to provide non- means tested legal help in relation to an inquest for which ECF has been granted for legal representation. Beyond this, we will consider the wider issue of legal aid at inquests in the Government’s response to Bishop James’ report. On other support for bereaved people following a mass disaster, as part of the previous Government’s Victims’ Strategy, a 12-week consultation on the role of an Independent Public Advocate (IPA) took place in late 2018.7 The Government is giving further consideration to what the most appropriate and proportionate response is in relation to the scope of this work going forward and how best to support those affected by such events, building on the work already carried out through the consultation, in a way that is consistent with the necessary and formal investigatory processes that must follow. The Government remains committed to supporting the bereaved and to make sure that inquests are as sympathetic to their needs as they can be. This is why in January 2020 we published a revised Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People to make it better focused on the needs of the bereaved and a protocol on the approach government lawyers should take when they have interested person status at an inquest to make sure that bereaved families continue to be at the heart of the inquisitorial system. In January 2020 we also held a conference for lawyers who practise in inquests to hear first-hand the experiences of families and to emphasise the importance of an inquisitorial approach. Building on the protocol, we have been supporting legal service regulators (the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority) to address behaviours by legal representatives in the coroner’s court.