Public Inquiries: Costs

Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for the work she has done in this space: it was an excellent report that is feeding into the Government’s thinking about next steps. She may be aware that the PACAC in the other place currently has a call for evidence. I urge all Members to contribute on how we should do this. But, obviously, how we scrutinise the Government is a matter for Parliament. Having said that, we do appreciate that more scrutiny is required.

[Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom (Con)]

My Lords, public inquiries have had a bad rap recently, partly because of the eye-watering sums of money spent by the Post Office on its legal fees and the Post Office inquiry. But the Post Office inquiry, so far as I can tell, has been doing a really good job. There is one problem the Minister might consider: public inquiries can be used as an excuse for organisations, such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority, not to take action until the public inquiry reports. I understand why that is, but what can we do about it?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord has been an incredible campaigner for those people who have been the subjects of the appalling IT disasters within the Post Office. His specific point is genuinely important. We have seen this throughout several of the inquiries and their impact. People feel that some of the inquiries have been pushing the can down the road. This is a genuine thing we need to reflect on. I will speak to Ministers in the Cabinet Office and come back to the noble Lord.