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IBI-4a(i) Accepted

Duty of Candour - Northern Ireland

Infected Blood Inquiry · Infected Blood Inquiry Final Report · Issued 20 May 2024 · Addressed to: Northern Ireland Executive

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Duty of candour:

A statutory duty of candour in healthcare should be introduced in Northern Ireland.

Infected Blood Inquiry, Infected Blood Inquiry Final Report · 20 May 2024 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- The Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt committed to advance proposals for an organisational duty of candour, and to consider a statutory individual duty of candour, as part of the Health and Social Care Three Year Plan (Government Response to the Infected Blood Inquiry, Cabinet Office, December 2024).
- The Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 was introduced in the House of Commons on 16 September 2025 and completed public bill committee scrutiny in December 2025. The Bill creates a duty of candour for public authorities and public servants with criminal sanctions (UK Parliament, 2025-2026).
- The Bill's report stage was postponed in January 2026 for further amendments, and remained before the House of Commons as of March 2026 (UK Parliament, January 2026).
- No statutory duty of candour in healthcare specific to Northern Ireland had been enacted as of March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)

Response — verbatim from government

●Northern Ireland Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive committed to proposing an organisational duty of candour, considering consultation findings and broader Hillsborough Law developments.

Northern Ireland Executive · 14 May 2025 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

  • 19 Jan 2026 · UK Parliament Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 ("Hillsborough Law") introduced September 2025, passed Commons January 2026, progressing through Lords. Creates statutory duty of candour for public authorities with criminal sanctions. View source → Reasonable Progress
  • 15 Jan 2026 · IBCA Community Update As of 13 January 2026: 3,721 people asked to start claims, 3,546 begun process, 3,074 received offers totalling £2.47bn, 2,861 paid totalling £1.89bn. Third compensation regulations in force 31 December 2025. View source → Good Progress
  • 28 Oct 2025 · IBCA Independent Review IBCA has contacted 2,215 people to begin compensation claims; 1,934 started process. £812m+ paid via Horizon Shortfall Scheme. £11.8bn committed in Autumn Budget. View source → Reasonable Progress

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.