King's Speech 2026: Public Office (Accountability) Bill

Public Office (Accountability) Bill

“My Government will introduce the Hillsborough Law to bring forward a duty of
candour for public servants”

● This Bill will deliver on the manifesto commitment to bring forward a
Hillsborough Law.

● The measures in this Bill will end the culture of cover-ups and institutional
defensiveness by bringing forward measures that create duties of candour;
individual accountability; honesty and frankness when things go wrong; and
‘parity of arms’ at inquests.

What does the Bill do?

● The Bill will:

○ Create powerful new obligations on public bodies and officials to
help investigations to find the truth; providing information and
evidence with candour, proactively, and without favouring their own
position. This includes a new criminal offence for non-compliance.

○ Place public officials under new duties of candour relating to their
day-to-day work. These “professional duties of candour” will be set
out in mandatory ethical codes - with potential consequences up to and
including gross misconduct for those who do not comply.

○ Establish clear individual accountability for creating and
spreading false narratives – through the creation of the offence of
misleading the public.

○ Reform the offence of “misconduct in public office” - including a
new offence of serious impropriety, and another of breaching a duty to
prevent death or serious harm. Both of these offences come with
serious custodial sentences.

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 ○ Tackle the disparity in power between the state and bereaved
families at inquests by providing bereaved families with access to
non-means tested legal aid for all inquests where a public authority is
an interested person, and placing a duty on public authorities to only
use legal representation when necessary and proportionate.

Territorial extent and application

● The Bill will extend to the whole of the UK. The duty of candour provisions will
apply to the whole of the UK. The other measures in the Bill currently apply to
England and Wales but the Government continues to work with the devolved
governments to consider whether these should be extended to Scotland
and/or Northern Ireland.

Key facts

● The legal aid reforms will increase the number of legally aided inquests from
approximately 200-400 to up to approximately 11,400 per year. This
expansion of legal aid will cost up to approximately £185 million per year, plus
operational costs.

● The former Bishop for Liverpool, The Right Reverend Bishop James
Jones KBE, said "The voices of the families and survivors have triumphed
after 36 years. I salute their dignified tenacity. This groundbreaking bill will
make the whole country a more truthful and just nation."

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