National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation

Bernard Jenkin Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I again put on record my thanks to her for supporting families in their fight for justice and accountability. She is absolutely right to say that families have driven this work. It is families who have had the determination, persistence and stamina. It is quite hard to imagine people having those qualities when they are dealing with such unimaginable pain that lasts their whole life, but that is what families have done. That is why I feel that it is our responsibility to ensure that they do not have to drive these changes alone. We as MPs, Government Ministers and Secretaries of State support families in the drive for accountability, justice and change. My hon. Friend is absolutely right; this must be about fundamental reform to all parts of the system, including the regulators, which have let women down far too often.

[Sir Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State keep an open mind as to whether it is right to abolish the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, which was specifically designed to provide for a duty of candour? Clinicians would be obliged to give evidence to HSSIP; they could not refuse, and there would be criminal penalties if they did. As we have already established, the duty of candour, as conceived in the Hillsborough law, does not work, and I suspect there will be no improvement unless HSSIP is allowed to carry out completely independent investigations that have proven that they can carry the confidence of the public, patients and clinicians. Will the Secretary of State keep an open mind about keeping HSSIP?