Public Office (Accountability) Bill

Key Points

• - A statutory duty of candour and assistance for public authorities and officials, enforceable in inquiries and investigations; an amendment was agreed to extend this duty to include certain England‑based local authority inquiries.
• - Introduction of offences for misleading the public, with debates about additional offences (e.g., deceiving the public) and how they would be proven and prosecuted; discussions on who would be liable and the impact on media relations.
• - Attempts to widen the bill to cover intelligence services, the MoD, private contractors and other non-core bodies, plus stronger whistleblowing protections and involvement of victims and trade unions; most of these broader scope amendments were not carried forward in committee.
• - Debates about media relations and the journalism exemption, including proposals to narrow or remove the exemption to prevent media-led cover-ups; these changes were not adopted in committee stage.
• - Proposals for independent oversight (such as an Independent Public Advocate) and post‑incident rights for victims, as well as calls for faster implementation and stronger ethics codes; many of these ideas remained as policy discussions rather than enacted provisions at this stage.

Progress

The bill is at the Commons report stage after a period of scrutiny in committee. It has been carried over and reintroduced, with a series of amendments debated to refine scope and enforcement. A final decision at report stage will determine whether it moves on to further stages or is amended again.