Written Question·Ministry of Justice·UIN 96289

Bernard Lodge Inquiry

Tabled: 2 December 2025
Answered: 10 December 2025

Question

Simon Hoare

ConservativeNorth Dorset

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the official set up date under section 5 of the Inquiries Act 2005 was for the public inquiry entitled Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard Lodge at Manchester Prison on 28 August 1998.

Answer

Jake Richards
The Bernard Lodge inquiry was commissioned initially as an ad hoc investigation with no statutory powers. The investigation was converted to a statutory inquiry under section 15 of the Inquiries Act 2005 on 23 February 2009.