The Minister acknowledged the importance of ensuring meaningful justice and transparency but emphasised that the government is committed to listening to the Hillsborough families and implementing necessary reforms. He stated that further discussions will be held, including a debate in the new year.

The Minister expressed willingness to meet the MP to discuss further support for those affected by the Hillsborough disaster.

The Minister agreed on the need for continued efforts and reassured the MP that the government remains committed to working towards comprehensive justice and support for all affected by major incidents.

I thank the hon. Lady for her response, acknowledging the manifest lack of equality of arms during adversarial processes. The Government committed to addressing this in two ways: first by ensuring families have the legal arms to take on such cases and secondly, through consultation on further expanding legal aid funding where necessary. Bishop James Jones’ report underlines the need to change the culture, which is why we are consulting on a duty of candour and embedding it as part of the charter for an independent public advocate.

My right hon. Friend rightly identifies the critical importance of placing the public interest above one’s own reputation as outlined in Bishop James Jones’ report. The Government is implementing a code of practice for ethical policing, which includes provisions to ensure openness and candour within forces and the embedding of the Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy into training and induction processes.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for those helpful and pertinent questions. Let me turn first to the issue of the police. Yes, it is one thing to set the culture, which, I think it is reasonable to point out, will now be woven into police training, but accountability matters too. One thing that matters is that schedule 2 to the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020, which, of course, post-date the report, includes the following: police officers must be honest, act with integrity and...not compromise or abuse their position and Police officers have a responsibility to give appropriate cooperation during investigations, inquiries and formal proceedings, participating openly and professionally in line with the expectations of a police officer when identified as a witness. Those standards are in the regulations. Their breach would provide a powerful case for dismissal or other suitable sanction. On the hon. Gentleman’s point about retrospectivity, plainly, if evidence comes to light about behaviour at the time, it can be considered in the normal way. I hope that he will be encouraged by knowing that the offence of misconduct in a public office is being considered by the Law Commission and we will respond in the new year. It is reasonable to observe that it has not operated as we might have liked, and is susceptible to reform. We are giving that very active attention. On the media and irresponsible coverage, my goodness, the hon. Gentleman has a point. I think that there still needs to be a live conversation about whether things have gone far enough.

Those are very helpful points. First, I pay tribute to the Justice Committee for its work, particularly the work on coroners’ inquests. Indeed, in preparation for this statement, I went back and re-read some of the evidence given by the then Chief Coroner, Mark Lucraft, in which he talked about this important issue of equality of arms. He made the point—from his position as Chief Coroner, no less—that, yes, there are of course cases in which it is important to have legal representation. We have made enormous strides, as has been indicated. Equally, there will be those in which legal representation sometimes does not help terribly. That is why we have to proceed with care. The key issue is equality of arms, as my hon. Friend rightly points out. The business about candour as regards early disclosure is critical.

I thank the right hon. Lady and say, entirely fairly, I hope, that the merits in this response—and it can reasonably be observed that there are a great number—are due in considerable part to her efforts in engaging with me to make changes and improvements. On the issue of the independent public advocate, for example, there is no doubt—others have fed in as well, not least my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead, the former Prime Minister—that the IPA will be permanent. It will be able to make reports of its own motion come before this House, and not just at the instigation of the state. This IPA is of a different order of muscularity from the one originally envisaged, and the right hon. Lady has played an important part in that.

I am so grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that critical point. The issue is not just about major disasters, important though they are. When something dreadful has happened, the victims and families do not want to find themselves in an unnecessarily adversarial situation or one where people are, frankly, trying to save their own skins and showing institutional defensiveness. A lot of the issue comes down to culture, frankly; we are aware of that. There are two things to say. First, on the equality of arms, if exceptional case funding is involved—that is to do with article 2; there are certain thresholds—there will be legal representation. On culture, we have provided a new document, which includes the principles guiding the Government’s approach when they hold interested person status at an inquest.

I thank the hon. Gentleman and will indeed reflect carefully on what has been said, especially about changing the culture. We remain committed to this and I will continue conversations on how best to achieve it.

The whole point about encouraging Departments to publish material is that the public can assess whether it is proportionate, as they should understand this term.

I confirm that the Independent Police Complaints Commissioner (IPA) is being put on the statute book.

I thank my hon. Friend and would be happy to discuss this further. Already in the civil service code, there ought to be arrangements for people to do precisely that.

The hon. and learned Lady makes an excellent point; however, we must be judicious in our approach, depending on the specific case.

Significant changes have taken place, but we need to ensure resources and support are always there should an event as tragic happen again.

My door is always open. We can have a discussion in due course about how we move forward.

The minister acknowledges the importance of changing the culture but notes countervailing issues. He indicates willingness to discuss further steps.

The minister agrees that cultural changes are crucial, indicating readiness to discuss further measures post-consultation.

The minister responds that significant steps have been taken but highlights the need for caution, especially regarding terrorism cases.

The minister confirms a duty of candour is necessary and assures that an independent public advocate will help hold people accountable.

The minister explains that while chief officers are responsible for organisational culture, individual officers also have duties under 2020 regulations.

The minister acknowledges Bishop James Jones’s recommendations but highlights countervailing interests, offering further discussions.

The minister emphasises significant changes made towards equality of arms, committing to further discussions on this issue.

The minister explains that countervailing interests have been considered across Government Departments, offering further discussion.

The minister agrees that victims' needs are paramount, highlighting the importance of permanent IPAs to assist and hold agencies accountable.

The minister asserts that significant changes have been made in line with Bishop James Jones’s report, while acknowledging further discussions are needed.