How to hold the government to account on public inquiries | Letter
Regarding your editorial on the child sexual abuse inquiry (28 May), it is time for the government to be held formally accountable for its response, or lack of, to the recommendations of a public inquiry through the House of Commons select committee structure.
Unfortunately, once a public inquiry concludes, the powers and support function of its secretariat ends too. There is no ongoing parliamentary procedure for holding the government to account on what happens to the recommendations once they have been made by a public inquiry.
However, select committees are well-equipped to carry out detailed scrutiny on the adequacy of the government’s proposed response. This approach should become the new normal. In the case of the child sex abuse inquiry, the home affairs select committee that I chair could have full oversight of the response and the effectiveness of the implementation of the recommendations.
I also believe that it will be necessary to have proper parliamentary oversight of the final report of the infected blood public inquiry, which is expected this autumn, after the prevarication by the government on the recent interim report on compensation.
Diana Johnson
Chair, home affairs select committee
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