Police forces have apologised for ‘profound failings’ and promised ‘cultural change’ to the families of Hillsborough disaster victims after almost 34 years.
The National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing have published a joint response on behalf of all 43 police forces in England and Wales after a 2017 report into the disaster.
A 2016 inquest found that In April 1989, 97 Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed due to gross negligence manslaughter by the police match commander David Duckenfield.
A year later, former Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, published a report into the experiences of the Hillsborough families and their fight for justice, which included 25 recommendations, 11 of which directly concerned policing.
And in a first response to that report apologies have been made, along with commitments to learn from the Hillsborough disaster failings.
Andy Marsh, the chief executive of the College of Policing said: “For what happened, as a senior policing leader, I profoundly apologise.
“Policing has profoundly failed those bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster over many years and we are sorry that the service got it so wrong.
“Police failures were the main cause of the tragedy and have continued to blight the lives of family members ever since.
“When leadership was most needed, the bereaved were often treated insensitively and the response lacked coordination and oversight.”
Setting out a 56-page report into a new code of ethics, Marsh said: “The changes include all police forces in England and Wales signing up to a charter agreeing to acknowledge when mistakes have been made and not seek to defend the indefensible; a strengthened ethical policy which makes candour a key theme, and new guidance for specialist officers supporting families during a tragedy, which learnt lessons from the Hillsborough Families Report, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the 2017 terrorist attacks.”
He added: “What we’re talking about is cultural change and cultural change takes a long time, but my goodness we have started.”
A spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign said: “The apology, while welcome, makes no reference to a change in legislation which would put an immediate stop to families battling against the state.
“We have long been campaigning for a Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, often referred to as the Hillsborough Law, which would create a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively cooperate with official investigations and inquiries.
“Do the right thing without delay.”
Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, added: “I remember writing to someone in government to say ‘I hope this report doesn’t get put on a shelf gathering dust for years like other things in the past have done.’
“We are now in 2023. How long does it take to read a report, to come out with your findings or what you think should happen?”
The chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council [NPCC], Martin Hewitt, responded saying the report was not published earlier due to legal processes.
Commenting on a change in legislation, he said: “What we have really focused on is doing that which is really within our power.
“The issue of candour is very clear within the charter for bereaved families and it will be incorporated explicitly in the review of the code of ethics.
“We have been robust as possible and it’s for Parliament to make any legislation that they feel is necessary.”