APCC Joint Transparency and Accountability Lead: How the Hillsborough Law will support better police standards and accountability
20 Oct 2025 12:26 PM
By Alison Lowe OBE, APCC Joint Lead on Transparency and Accountability and West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime
It has taken more than 36 years, but a bill has finally been introduced to Parliament that will help prevent cover ups, such as that by South Yorkshire Police which followed the Hillsborough disaster. Publication of what has become known as the Hillsborough Law – the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, to give it its formal name – was a landmark moment, the result of the utter determination of those who lost loved ones at Hillsborough. It is their unfaltering pursuit of justice that means in future anyone acting on behalf of the State will be held legally accountable for their actions.
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and deputy mayors for policing and crime have long advocated for stronger legal duties regarding transparency and accountability, particularly the introduction of a duty of candour in policing. We support the College of Policing’s Code of Practice for Ethical Policing which already places a duty on chief officers to ensure openness and candour within their force. But this new legislation will apply the duty of candour to all police officers and staff, backed by possible criminal sanctions for those who breach it.
This is essential to improve policing culture but, importantly for those impacted when things go wrong, they will learn the truth. Too often, whether it’s Hillsborough, the Post Office and infected blood scandals, or child abuse within the Church of England, institutions have responded defensively, hiding the truth to preserve reputations. In policing, the Hillsborough Law will provide clarity on what is expected of officers, staff, and leadership in terms of transparency.
Of course, the process is not over until the bill passes into law, but once on the statute book it will mean that anyone caught up in a disaster or scandal involving the State, or who has been bereaved, will not have to endure the same terrible fight for justice the Hillsborough families have. It’s worth remembering that, despite the deaths of 97 fans who were at the Sheffield Wednesday ground, the eventual admissions of police lies that fans were to blame for the fatal crush, and three criminal trials, just one person – a Sheffield Wednesday club official – has been convicted of a health and safety offence. He was fined.
No police officer has been found guilty of any kind of misconduct. The then Chief Superintendent, David Duckenfield, has been twice acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter, and the trial of two other police officers and a solicitor accused of changing police statements collapsed.
We still await the outcome of the IOPC’s independent investigation which has been going on for a staggering 13 years. They aim to finally publish their report before the end of the year, and I strongly urge them not to delay further – the families have already endured far too much over far too long.
The need for accountability
Policing has been working hard to improve standards to rebuild public trust and confidence. If that is to work, integrity, openness and accountability must be core to the changes we all want to see. The duty of candour contained in the Hillsborough Law will support that. It will mean that PCCs and deputy mayors, acting as the voice of the public in policing, will be able to hold chief constables to account more effectively for embedding these values.
The revelations in the recent BBC Panorama programme of abhorrent behaviour at London’s Charing Cross police station are a reminder of just how deep rooted some of the problems are. It is clear there is much more to be done to root out those unfit to serve. Strengthened vetting procedures have been introduced and PCCs and deputy mayors know that chief constables are resolved to do what is necessary to get rid of those who fail to uphold the high standards rightly expected of them. We are committed to ensuring they do.
I know the vast majority of police officers and staff work hard every day to keep the public safe and they are, doubtless, as appalled as the rest of us when they see conduct amongst colleagues that undermines their efforts. Policing is a uniquely tough job and there are daily examples of officers risking their safety to protect ours. It is important this does not go unacknowledged. But alongside that must be police service and individual accountability.
There is no quick fix because transforming the culture of an organisation inevitably takes time. It must be led from the top. It is the collective responsibility of leaders right across the sector to support policing to improve and be answerable when it falls short. But we need the whole workforce on board with the change that is underway. To achieve that, it must be crystal clear what is expected of officers at all levels and the staff who work alongside them, what is unacceptable, and what being accountable for one’s actions means. Where inappropriate behaviour takes place, victims of it or witnesses should feel obliged and safe to challenge it, and there must be avenues via which they can report it, confident they will be listened to and their complaint taken seriously.
Looking to the future
Broader and significant change is coming to policing in England and Wales with the government’s proposals for reform – we look forward to seeing the White Paper outlining them soon. It is a generational opportunity to modernise structures with an ambition to police based on evidence of what works, utilising the best technology to support the prevention and investigation of crime. On behalf of PCCs and deputy mayors, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) is working with government and other policing organisations to secure meaningful and effective change. We must get this right, with holding police to account at the centre in the public interest.
The government also has plans for greater devolution across England that will see the creation of mayors in several areas. There, PCC functions will be taken on by deputy mayors for policing and crime, a role which, as a deputy mayor myself, I am pleased is going to be placed on a statutory footing. Regardless of the title of the person scrutinising police forces, the fundamental motivation must continue to be accountability based on a single visible elected leader who is directly accountable to the public. The APCC is collaborating with national and local partners to ensure a smooth transition to the new mayoralties.
A lot is going on in policing and change can be difficult, but it is absolutely key to improving public trust and confidence in policing. We should take our lead from the Hillsborough families who stayed the course for so many years, fighting with passion and commitment to achieve the change they knew was needed: a law that will ensure the public see full accountability in policing, so that the State and its institutions can never again withhold the truth.