Terms of Reference set out the issues and associated parameters that an Inquiry will investigate. All public inquiries have Terms of References, which are often publicly consulted on (meaning anyone can respond to or provide views on them).
Terms of Reference are set by the Chair, and agreed by the relevant Minister, before being published.
You can read more about Terms of Reference here.
Following conversion of the Inquiry to statutory status the Chair, Baroness Lampard, undertook a public consultation on the Terms of Reference. This was to ensure that both those directly affected by the issues and the wider public were able to provide their views on matters which the Inquiry should investigate.
The public consultation on the Terms of Reference opened on 1 November 2023 and closed on 28 November 2023. The Chair took all consultation responses into consideration when deciding on the proposed Terms of Reference she submitted to the Minister.
Under the Inquiries Act 2005, the Minister is ultimately responsible for setting the Terms of Reference of the Inquiry.
The final Terms of Reference were published in parliament on 10 April 2024. You can find them on the Inquiry’s website, here.
A Statement of Approach has been published by the Chair to the Inquiry, with the final Terms of Reference. This sets out how the Terms of Reference have changed since the Inquiry was given statutory status, and why. It can be accessed here.
The Inquiry received a total of 61 responses, from individuals and organisations.
The Inquiries Act 2005 (Section 5) sets out that the relevant Minister is responsible for setting out the Terms of Reference, or any amends relating to the Terms of Reference.
It is usual practice for Chairs to Inquiries to provide draft Terms of Reference to the relevant Minister for approval prior to publication.
