Interim reports

By section 24(3) of the Inquiries Act 2005 before making a report under subsection (1) the Chairman may deliver to the Minister an interim report containing anything that a report under subsection (1) may contain. This is a useful power, reflecting the pre-existing practice by which a public inquiry may report in stages. There are a number of situations in which an interim report may be desirable. Urgency may call for the principal findings of fact to be published quickly with reasons to follow. Alternatively it may be that the recommendations call for separate consideration and so the findings of fact and their supporting reasons are delivered as an interim report. The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the Scott Inquiry are both examples of public inquiries which had a second stage. The public inquiry may find that its terms of reference are inadequate because of changed circumstances or because of the discovery of unexpected facts and an interim report could be delivered in order to seek an enlargement of the terms.