Profiting from disaster

 The most successful growth industry in the UK is the public enquiry, and there are no less than 17 of these in operation during 2024. These typically arise in response to media exposures of the various blunders, malfeasance and cruelty by public bodies. After a period of resistance, governments agree the need for a ‘full public enquiry’, which usually begin their work several years after the events they aim to investigate.

Public enquiries are usually headed by a senior judge and are staffed by a large squad of lawyers. These can take immense care and effort to establish the facts of what are often complex and ill-recorded organisational decisions. But that care takes time, and reports always emerge many years after the original malfeasance. In their day-to-day work, public enquiries resemble courts of law, but no-one is found guilty and no-one is punished. The public may be gratified by scenes of senior figures being humiliated and occasionally in tears, but these senior figures are rarely prosecuted, never go to prison nor even lose their generous pensions. None suffer as much as the victims of their misdeeds.

Either concurrently or after the conclusion of the ‘full public enquiry’, a system of compensation for victims is devised. This will often prove niggardly and slow-moving, such that many of those eligible for payments die before they receive any cash. This is not the result of ‘bureaucracy’, but is a deliberate act of Government policy. Some evidence emerges from the Post Office Enquiry, which heard evidence from Kemi Badenoch (the responsible minister for a time in 2023). She had recommended that each claimant receive an interim payment of £100,000 but found this blocked by the Treasury which told her that this would not be ‘value for money’. There was in fact no Treasury budget for compensation to the victims of the Post Office nor for the victims of nuclear tests, nor for the victims of tainted blood, nor for any other people with similar claims against the state.

By contrast, the public enquiries are generously funded, and their lawyers are well-remunerated and paid on time. An example is the COVID Enquiry, which began in Spring 2022, two years after the outbreak of the disease, and is expected to conclude its public hearings in 2026. It employs 250 staff and will probably cost more than £200 million. This is money that would have made a significant difference to those suffering from the disease. ONS data shows that 1.5 million people have long COVID, of whom 380,000 experienced substantial limitations. This large and sudden increase in the disabled population has placed immense strain on the NHS. The Post Office Enquiry began in 2021, over twenty years after the first of 900 sub-postmasters was prosecuted for fraud. This has so far cost over £50 million (plus the cost of legal representation for the Post Office) and will publish its final report sometime in 2026. The Grenfell Tower enquiry reported seven years after the devastating fire, cost £170 million, and delayed any legal action against those at fault. It also delayed action to remove dangerous cladding, although this did of course save the Treasury many millions of pounds.

Enquiries have therefore become treacle-pots for the legal profession, strung out for years and, in some cases, showing no sign of ever ending, let alone producing any change in official policy. The Scottish Child Abuse Enquiry began at the end of 2014, and has been riven by conflict because of interference by the Scottish Government and a refusal by the enquiry chair to investigate allegations against senior Scottish lawyers. Two other enquiries are at least five years old.

There is clearly a need for a better, more expeditious and hopefully cheaper way of investigating government malfeasance. A model for how to do this comes from investigations into aircraft accidents. A team of expert meets to assemble the evidence. Their report aims to describe how the accident occurred, to identify the failures in human and/or mechanical systems that caused it, and to recommend changes in procedures to avoid its re-occurrence. This work must be competed expeditiously to minimise risk for others travelling by air. The Swedish Government adopted this approach for its COVID enquiry. A team of eight experts published their first report in 2020 - the year the virus took hold. Their final report appeared in February 2022 - one month before the UK COVID enquiry even began its work. The Swedes clearly believe the work of governments is to efficiently protect the public and not to fund those who profit from disaster.