Recommendation SP67: Law Commission review of duty to warn/report
From The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1, published 13 April 2026.
Recommendation
The Law Commission should be asked to review the merits of legal reform concerning whether specified categories of persons ought to be under a legal duty to warn about, or a duty to report, the criminality of another.
In brief (written by this site)
The Southport Inquiry recommended reviewing legal duties to warn about or report criminality. In July 2026, HM Government stated that the Ministry of Justice was exploring the merits of the proposal with the Law Commission, which was engaging with the Inquiry to determine next steps, and that it would work to discuss a proposal as soon as possible (Home Office response, Jul 2026). Nicholas Moss, Lead Counsel to the Inquiry, reported in July 2026 that the Chair had been liaising directly with the commission at a senior level (Nicholas Moss, Jul 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Ministry of Justice is the sponsoring department for the Law Commission and will work with the Law Commission, the Home Office and other relevant departments on this recommendation. Progress and next steps:
- The Law Commission is engaging with the Inquiry to discuss this recommendation to determine next steps.
- Government is exploring the merits of this proposal with the Law Commission and will promptly work with them to discuss a proposal as soon as possible.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The government's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Law Commission has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 July 2026). This is separate from the response above.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Southport Inquiry (8 July 2026)
Sir, recommendation 67 relates to the Law Commission and Core Participants can be reassured that you, sir, have been liaising personally and directly with the Law Commission at a very senior level on that recommendation.
From: Transcript - Southport Phase 2 Opening - 8 July 2026, Nicholas Moss, Lead Counsel to the Inquiry
Site note: These are the words of counsel to the Inquiry at the Phase 2 opening hearing on 8 July 2026, reporting that the Chair has been liaising with the Law Commission, to which recommendation 67 is addressed. They are the Inquiry's words, not the Law Commission's, so the row does not set the recommendation's status.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Ministry of Justice
Response - Southport Inquiry
Finding