Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Inquiries Bill to provide that an inquiry must operate under a presumption of openness and transparency. As currently drafted, the Inquiries Bill allows an inquiry to make orders to forbid publication of information, restrict public access to any part or aspect of the inquiry, or hold the inquiry, or any part of it, in private. The Bill provides for criteria that an inquiry must take into account before making any such orders. This Supplementary Order Paper makes it clear that an inquiry must operate under a presumption of openness and transparency.