The ministerial power to set up a public inquiry: issues of transparency and accountability

The Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was left in crisis following intense pressure from survivors and their families, the public and media. Two senior legal figures, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Fiona Woolf, both resigned from the position of chair to the inquiry following concerns over their links with the establishment. Questions were raised over the independence of a process convened by the Home Secretary, to investigate apparent failures on the part of institutions, which would include scrutinising the actions of a former Home Secretary in handling allegations of child sexual abuse in the past. Demands for an inquiry with greater statutory powers, including the power to compel the giving of evidence on oath, ultimately resulted in the Independent Panel being disbanded and a new public inquiry, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, being convened. Against the background of this and other inquiries, this article examines the serious questions raised about the powers of a minister to set up a public inquiry, the lack of open and transparent decision-making processes and the extent to which those ministerial decisions are open to public scrutiny and accountability

An analysis of legal and political influence on the form and nature of post-2005 public inquiries and their significance

Public inquiries are major instruments of accountability, convened to address matters of public concern. Every time a new inquiry is convened, decisions are made by government ministers and inquiry chairs to determine their form and nature, which in turn affect their independence, powers, subject matter, and openness to public scrutiny. This research is a systematic, library-based analysis of: witness evidence to the 2013-14 House of Lords Select Committee on the Inquiries Act on the law and practice of public inquiries, legislation, case law and other documentary sources to observe, in practice, what political and legal influence is being exerted on the form and nature of public inquiries, by whom, and to what effect. The research uses a mixed-method approach of inductive analysis and critical examination of secondary data; doctrinal legal research; and broader desk-based research. The research found that attempts by parliamentary committees to reform the decisionmaking process have been largely unsuccessful, with successive governments rejecting attempts to restrict the power of the minister. The courts' involvement has been restricted to clarifying the legal requirements for an effective inquiry. There is a statutory framework for public inquiries. However, the research found that the form and nature of public inquiries has been evolving within and outside that statutory framework, not through legislative change, nor directly because of action through the courts, but through political pressure exerted at the level of individual inquiries, often due to conflicting expectations about the role of an inquiry. The research concludes that: this provides an arbitrary and inconsistent source of scrutiny; the conflicting expectations must be addressed; and the recent move towards greater formal consultation is welcome. It recommends that future reviews of the public inquiry process be addressed not only to government but more widely and urges greater public education to enhance wider public scrutiny

The Grenfell Tower public inquiry: managing expectations

Difficult messages about the scope of the inquiry must be communicated now to avoid damaging trust and confidence in the process further down the line, explains Emma Ireton

How public is a public inquiry?

Public inquiries convened by ministers into matters of public concern are major instruments of accountability within the administrative justice system. This article examines the tensions between the demand for public scrutiny of public inquiries and open justice on the one hand and conflicting pressures such as the protection of individual privacy and national security on the other. With reference to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Iraq Inquiry, the Undercover Policing and Azelle Rodney Inquiries and others, and drawing comparisons with the civil and criminal court systems, it looks at examples of inquiries with very different degrees of openness. The article analyses the key elements that comprise open justice in the public inquiry process and the methods by which restrictions are imposed on those elements. Openness is not always possible, however, the article argues that each time a concession is made against openness, there is a real risk that public confidence in the public inquiry process, and thereby the effectiveness of that process, is diminished. Finally, the article argues that the power of the minister to impose restrictions on public access, and perceptions of undue secrecy and ministerial interference, significantly exacerbates the undermining of public scrutiny and public trust in the independence and integrity of public inquiries

Nongenomic Actions of Steroid Hormones in the Ovine Endometrium

The steroid hormone estrogen plays a crucial role in regulating certain mammalian tissues, especially female reproductive systems. Estrogen effects physiological changes in the cell by altering transcription activity for certain target genes, as a consequence of interactions between estradiol-17β (E2) and its nuclear receptor (nER). This mechanism of cellular control is referred to as classical genomic regulation. Changes take hours to manifest, since they depend on gradual changes in protein populations. However, rapid cellular changes – such as activation of MAPK pathways – have been observed within seconds of E2 exposure in vivo. These changes cannot be explained by classical mechanisms of genomic regulation, and thus are defined as nongenomic regulation. Such regulation is understood to be mediated by specific receptors localized to the plasma membrane (PM). In studies conducted in vitro and in vivo, in murine models, the specific PM-localized E2 receptor (mER) responsible for mediating nongenomic regulation has been shown to be a specially translocated subpopulation of nER. However, these findings have yet to be corroborated in vivo in animals larger than mice. The specific purpose of the present study was to ascertain whether a correlation could established between levels of nER expression in the nucleus and expression of mER in the PM in cells of the ovine endometrium, comparing groups of ewes treated with either E2 or progesterone (P4). The hypothesis was that significant increases in levels of nER of E2 treated ewes would be reflected by significant increases in mER, as compared to P4 treated ewes. Ovariectomized ewes were treated with E2 and progesterone (P4) to condition the endometrium, a rich source of endogenous nER. The ewes were then divided into two treatment groups. Group 1 received additional E2 injections, known to elevate cellular nER levels, while group 2 received additional P4 injections, known to suppress nER levels. Results demonstrated significant increases in nER correlated with significant increases in mER in E2 treated ewes, as compared to P4 treated ewes, which supports the study’s hypothesis. These findings set the stage for further investigations into explicitly characterizing the nature of the mER in an ovine model, as well as continued exploration of nongenomic regulatory responses

The 1.14 Å Crystal Structure of Yeast Cytosine Deaminase Evolution of Nucleotide Salvage Enzymes and Implications for Genetic Chemotherapy

AbstractCytosine deaminase (CD) catalyzes the deamination of cytosine and is only present in prokaryotes and fungi, where it is a member of the pyrimidine salvage pathway. The enzyme is of interest both for antimicrobial drug design and gene therapy applications against tumors. The structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CD has been determined in the presence and absence of a mechanism-based inhibitor, at 1.14 and 1.43 Å resolution, respectively. The enzyme forms an α/β fold similar to bacterial cytidine deaminase, but with no similarity to the α/β barrel fold used by bacterial cytosine deaminase or mammalian adenosine deaminase. The structures observed for bacterial, fungal, and mammalian nucleic acid deaminases represent an example of the parallel evolution of two unique protein folds to carry out the same reaction on a diverse array of substrates

Leading and recognizing public value

This article examines the relationship between leadership and public value, which is particularly challenging in a context of explicit contest and conflict. The theoretical framework is illustrated through a case study of policing rural crime. The study reveals that the police worked with multiple and competing publics rather than a single homogeneous public, and that part of their leadership role was to create and convene a public space in which different voices and divergent views could be expressed. The study notes that research needs to pay attention to the loss and displacement of public value, not solely its creation and recognition. The need to convene multiple publics required the police to lead, as part of a leadership constellation, and with political astuteness. The findings have wider relevance for other public services, and for studies of leadership and public value at the intersection between the state and civil society