The Inquiry encourages anyone who holds relevant information or documents to contact the Inquiry. Our contact details can be found here.
Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006 entitles an inquiry to send a written request for specific information or evidence to any individual who it considers may hold relevant information or documents. This is known as a Rule 9 request.
If you think you have evidence that is relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference, you are welcome to contact us now to let us know. There is no need to send the evidence to the Inquiry at this stage. We will contact you, if necessary, when we begin to request evidence through the Rule 9 process.
A Rule 9 Request is a written request from the Inquiry for evidence – specifically, for the recipient to provide a witness statement or potentially relevant documents. It is called a Rule 9 Request as the process is governed by Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006.
A Rule 9 Request helps an Inquiry obtain information about the issues it is investigating, such as how and why key decisions were made.
A Rule 9 Request can be directed to any named individual, organisation, or entity. The Chair can make the request to anyone they believe may have information relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.
All requests will specify a deadline for the provision of any requested material. Deadlines will be set by the Inquiry, taking due consideration of the nature of the request being made. All recipients should provide a response within the requested time frame.
The Inquiry is a public inquiry. It will publish evidence where it is necessary and proportionate for it to fulfil its Terms of Reference. Evidence may also be disclosed to Core Participants, witnesses, experts or other individuals whom the Inquiry is engaging with in order to assist the Inquiry with its investigations and to help the Chair meet the Terms of Reference.
There may be circumstances where people wish to provide evidence but want to remain anonymous or to keep certain information confidential. The Inquiry Chair can decide whether to allow for this through a Restriction Order.
The Inquiry has also published a protocol about how it will manage documents and disclosure, which can be accessed here.
The Chair urges any individual who is asked to provide evidence to the Inquiry to do so voluntarily.
Where this request is declined or not fully complied with and the Inquiry believes the individual holds important evidence for our investigations, the Chair may compel the provision of evidence. This will be done under the powers of the Inquiries Act 2005 and only where necessary and appropriate.
The Chair will not compel family members or friends of those who have died, or patients or former patients, to provide evidence, unless in exceptional circumstances. A Note on this has published by the Inquiry and can be accessed here.
Should an individual be compelled, the Inquiry will ensure the necessary support is in place to enable them to provide evidence.
Anyone who is asked to provide evidence to the Inquiry will first be asked to provide a written statement. Having received the written statement, the Inquiry may then decide that it is necessary to hear oral evidence from that person at a public hearing. In terms of timescales, the hearings in 2024 relate primarily to commemorative and impact evidence relating to those who have died. The Chair currently has no intention of calling any staff members to give oral evidence in 2024. However, we do anticipate sending requests for statements to some staff members before the end of the year.
You can read more about the written witness statement process here.
If a person, organisation, or entity fails to comply with a Rule 9 Request, the Chair may compel the production of evidence through a Section 21 Notice. Under the powers of the Inquiries Act 2005 a Section 21 Notice compels the provision of a written statement, production of a document or attendance to give evidence. Failure to comply with a Section 21 Notice without a ‘reasonable excuse’ is a criminal offence.
A person may make a claim in response to a Section 21 notice that they are unable to comply with it or it would not be reasonable in all the circumstances to require them to comply with it. The claim would be considered by the Chair of the Inquiry who would consider whether to amend, revoke or maintain the notice.
Section 22 of the Inquiries Act 2005 also permits the withholding of information from the Inquiry in certain limited circumstances, for example confidential communications between a person and their legal advisor (legal professional privilege) may be exempt from disclosure.
Evidence which was obtained during the Inquiry’s non-statutory phase has been retained and will be reviewed by the Inquiry.
There is no need for witnesses to take any action to withdraw or resubmit their evidence at this stage. The Inquiry will be in touch with all witnesses in due course to discuss how their evidence may be used, together with any requests for additional evidence should this be required.
The Inquiry team will be in contact with you when we turn to review the evidence already obtained.
Independent emotional support continues to be available for those engaging with the Inquiry. If you would like to access this, or if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Inquiry team.
The Inquiry will publish evidence where it is necessary and proportionate for it to fulfil the Terms of Reference.
All personal and sensitive information that is provided to the Inquiry will be appropriately handled. For example, there are provisions within the Inquiries Act 2005 which permit the Chair to make a Restriction Order. This can restrict evidence from being made public if there are good reasons to do so.
An individual or organisation can apply to the Chair for a Restriction Order which can relate to any part of their evidence, including their identity.
Further information on how to make such an application can be found here.
All relevant and necessary evidence that the Inquiry considers as part of its investigations will be published on the Inquiry’s website, unless a Restriction Order is in place. Some evidence may also be shared directly with witnesses or Core Participants so they can provide a statement to, or fully participate with, the Inquiry.
The general approach of a statutory inquiry is that any evidence that is provided will be public. However, witnesses can apply to the Chair of the Inquiry for a Restriction Order, which may relate to any part of their evidence being restricted from being made known, including their identity.
Further information on how to make such an application can be found here.
The Chair has decided to make special provision for people who are currently, or have previously been, mental health inpatients in Essex. Further information can be found here.
Please contact the Inquiry team should you have any specific concerns around providing evidence.
Documents provided to the Inquiry can contain sensitive, including personal, information and may need to be redacted in accordance with the Inquiry’s Protocol on Restriction Orders, which can be accessed here.
Redaction may also be used to exclude information that is not considered relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.
Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006 enables an inquiry to send a written request for specific information or evidence to any individual who it considers may hold relevant information or documents. This is known as a Rule 9 request.
If you have received a Rule 9 request, a clear description of the matters or issues to be covered in any statement, or of the types or categories of documents requested, along with a date by which you are expected to respond, will be included.
Please see our Protocol on Witness Statements and Protocol on Documents for further information, and do not hesitate to contact the Inquiry if you have any questions.
