Public Inquiries
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 18 February (HL4612), how many non-statutory public inquiries have been established since 2005; what were the names of each inquiry; what were the projected costs of each inquiry at the time of its establishment; and, for those that have concluded, what was the final cost of each inquiry upon its conclusion.
Government answer
Since 2005, His Majesty’s Government has established 18 non-statutory inquiries.
The Cabinet Office collects data on the duration and cost of inquiries from departments, inquiries’ own reports, and other publicly available information. We do not centrally hold data on the projected costs of each inquiry as each Government Department is responsible for the inquiries they sponsor.
We have provided details on all non statutory inquiries established since 2005 in the table below. In the table below, “unknown” means that it is not known by Cabinet Office.
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Inquiry
Legislative Basis
Year established
Duration in months (from announcement to publication of final report)
Reported final costs where publicly available
Manston Inquiry
Non-Statutory
2025
Ongoing
Pending
Cranston Inquiry
Non-statutory
2023
Ongoing
Pending
Andrew Malkinson Inquiry
Non-statutory
2023
Ongoing
Pending
Fuller Inquiry
Non-statutory
2022
Ongoing
Pending
Angiolini Inquiry
Non-statutory
2022
Ongoing
Pending
The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review
Non-statutory
2018
29
£1.7m
Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by Ian Paterson
Non-statutory
2018
26
£1.9m
Independent inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and its subsequent termination
Non-statutory
2017
48
Unknown
Gosport Independent Panel
Non-statutory
2014
42
£13m
Harris Review / Independent review of self-inflicted deaths of young adults in custody aged between 18 and 24
Non-statutory
2014
17
£0.2m
The Morecambe Bay Maternity and Neonatal Services Investigation
Non-statutory
2013
18
£1.1m
Daniel Morgan Independent Panel
Non-statutory
2013
97
£17.6m
The Detainee Inquiry
Non-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)
2010
45
£2.3m (exc. VAT)
The Hillsborough Independent Panel
Non-statutory
2009
33
Less than £5m
Independent Inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust January 2001 – March 2009
Non-statutory
2009
7
Unknown
The Iraq Inquiry / The Chilcot Inquiry
Non-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)
2009
85
£13.1m
Inquiry into Human Tissue Analysis in UK Nuclear Facilities / Redfern Inquiry
Non-statutory
2007
43
Unknown
Contaminated Blood and Blood Products Inquiry
Non-statutory
2007
48
£75k
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