Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the expenditure incurred by public inquiries in each of the last five years.

Published costs for inquiries can be found on inquiry websites, as well as in the National Archives.

Public Inquiries shed light on injustices of the past, provide a means for victims and survivors to finally have their voices heard, and can help to rebuild trust in national institutions. The Government also recognises that there is growing criticism of the cost of inquiries, and is considering whether there are changes that could enable inquiries to deliver outcomes and enable lessons to be learnt more swiftly and at lower cost. This is a substantial piece of work, led by the Cabinet Office, that will aim to improve how we identify wrongs, and get to the truth more quickly. We will continue to keep Parliament updated on this important subject.