Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of not providing live audio and video streaming of the Undercover Policing Inquiry on the ability of the (a) public and (b) core participants to engage with that inquiry.

The Undercover Policing Inquiry is independent of the Home Office and so, decisions on the conduct of its investigations and hearings are for the Inquiry to make.

The Inquiry has sought the views of Core Participants and relevant parties on how it should conduct its evidence hearings. Following the completion of the November 2020 evidence hearings the Inquiry held a directions hearing in January 2021 which discussed arrangements for Phase 2 of Tranche 1 hearings that are scheduled to commence on 21^st April 2021.

The outcome of this directions hearing was published in February by the Inquiry, detailing its provision of live audio and video streaming to the public and the rationale behind this. This can be found on the Inquiry website at: https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210205-directions-t1_p2_hearings.pdf