Housing Ombudsman to get ‘duty of candour’ powers under new law

“We will utilise powers in the bill to extend the duty to a range of ombudsman investigations, such as those by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman,” said Ms Davies-Jones.

The Ministry of Justice will set out further details on how this new duty will work in housing investigations after consulting with the ombudsman, Inside Housing understands.

Richard Blakeway, housing ombudsman, said: “Openness and transparency are behaviours integral to a positive complaints culture. 

“We welcome the government’s recognition of the role ombudsman investigations play in addressing unfairness or injustice and its intention to strengthen our investigations by extending this landmark legislation to our work.”

Amerdeep Clarke, local government and social care ombudsman, also welcomed the move. “We have been working closely with the government on plans to update our legislation and will continue to do so. We welcome any steps to strengthen our ability to investigate complaints,” she said.

The new bill was first tabled by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in 2017 and stems from inquests into the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster. During an FA Cup tie at Hillsborough Stadium, 97 football fans were unlawfully killed after gross negligence by police.

Inquests later exposed that there was no legal obligation for the public authorities involved to co-operate with the process, and information was able to be withheld. 

In July 2024 during the King’s Speech, Sir Keir Starmer’s government promised to introduce a duty of candour law, to ensure “that the state can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve”, while also citing the Post Office Horizon scandal and the Grenfell Tower fire. 

The prime minister had previously pledged to bring it before parliament by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy, which was on 15 April, yet Downing Street later said more time was needed for a redraft.

Earlier this year, campaigners raised fears that the bill would be watered down and the duty of candour element removed, but last month the government confirmed it was remaining in the legislation.

In the Commons this week, Sir Keir paid tribute to the families who tirelessly campaigned for the truth about Hillsborough, and said both victims and their relatives were “failed by the state”.

The prime minister described how at the Hillsborough independent panel, Bishop James Jones found that over 100 statements made by junior police officers had been deliberately altered to remove evidence unfavourable to South Yorkshire Police.

“I do not think there is anyone in this House who could possibly disagree that we must never let anything like that happen again,” Sir Keir said.

He added: “I say it again from this Dispatch Box: this bill will not be watered down. This is such an important re-orchestrating of the relationship between the state and its citizens.”

The legal duty of candour means authorities will face criminal sanctions if they attempt to cover up future disasters, and private bodies contracted to provide services for publicly funded organisations will also have to follow the law.