How can public inquiries make a difference?

Hillsborough. Bloody Sunday. Grenfell. Scott. Leveson. Chilcott. And just this week, infected blood, the Post Office and Covid.

Public inquiries can make headlines. They can alter the course of political careers. They can bring closure. They can shape all our lives.

So in the week that the Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report was published, Emma Norris, the IfG’s deputy director and resident public inquiries expert, joins Anand and Paul to examine what makes a successful public inquiry – and what makes an unsuccessful one. Should politicians resist them or welcome them? How much do they really cost – and does that matter? And how can they make a difference?

The Expert Factor is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come.