March 12, 2018

The Government’s consultation on whether to commence or repeal s 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, and whether to continue with Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry or terminate the Inquiry without undertaking Part 2, ran from 1 November 2016 to 10 January 2017.

The Government has now published a summary of the responses to the consultation and outlined its conclusions and next steps.

The Government received 174,730 direct responses to the consultation, along with a number of petitions. Having considered both of these, and following formal consultation with Sir Brian Leveson as the Chair of the Leveson Inquiry, the Government says it has decided to:

• repeal section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 at the first appropriate opportunity, without commencing it first; and
• end the Leveson Inquiry without undertaking Part 2.

The Government has also published its correspondence with Sir Brian Leveson concerning the future of the Inquiry. To access the Response in full, click here.