1. This Protocol relates to:
- the holding of potentially relevant evidence;
- the provision of potentially relevant evidence to the Inquiry; and
- their receipt and handling by the Inquiry.
2. It sets out how the Inquiry will obtain evidence which may be relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference and how the Inquiry will ensure that they are promptly provided in the correct format. It further explains how the Inquiry will process such evidence and deal with its onward disclosure.
3. This Protocol is not intended to cover every eventuality or procedural issue that may arise. In certain cases, the Chair may also consider that he needs to make a decision about the procedures or conduct of the Inquiry that does not accord with this Protocol, to uphold his statutory duties to act fairly and to avoid unnecessary cost.
Definitions
4. In this Protocol, the term “evidence” is to be interpreted widely. It means anything in which information of any description is recorded, whether in paper or electronic form. This will include, but is not limited to: statements, records, correspondence, reports, reviews, board/committee minutes, meeting/attendance notes, manuscript notes, memoranda, circulars, governing/constitutional documents, contract documents, guides/codes of conduct, policy documents/statements, articles, photographs, video and audio recordings, physical evidence, and any other tangible record of information or data.
5. Evidence is “relevant” or “potentially relevant” if it relates, or may relate, to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference and is evidence that the Chair would wish the Inquiry to receive if the Chair were aware of its existence.
6. “Material Provider” means any person, organisation or entity that has been asked to provide or has provided relevant or potentially relevant evidence to the Inquiry, whether voluntarily, by request or by requirement.
Identifying potentially relevant evidence
7. The Chair encourages anyone who might hold potentially relevant documents to contact the Inquiry as soon as possible. This can be done by email at info@orgreave.public-inquiry.uk, or by post – Freepost ORGREAVE INQUIRY. When using the Freepost address, “ORGREAVE INQUIRY” must be written in uppercase. Arrangements will then be made for receipt of any such documents.
8. As a general rule, before the Inquiry issues a request under Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006 for evidence to be provided to the Inquiry, the Inquiry will write to relevant individuals and organisations to ask them to identify whether they hold any potentially relevant material. The Inquiry will ask potential Material Providers to conduct searches of the material that they hold and report to the Inquiry the volume and nature of the material located.
9. The Inquiry will ask Material Providers to explain the search terms/methodology that has been used to conduct searches and may, as appropriate, request further searches/search terms.
10. In some circumstances, in particular where archives confirm that they hold a significant volume of material, members of the Inquiry Team may, at a preliminary stage, attend a Material Provider to inspect and/or catalogue material.
Distortion, Retention and Destruction by Material Providers
11. Once potentially relevant documents have been identified, any person, organisation or entity holding that evidence must take great care to ensure that all evidence is preserved in its original form.
12. By way of sole exception, legal professional privilege or another legal bar to disclosure to the Inquiry might be asserted in respect of a document or part of a document. Where that is the case, Material Providers should consider whether they should waive privilege to assist the Inquiry in its work in the public interest. Where they choose not to do so, Material Providers must set out in writing to the Inquiry why they believe that any legal rule prohibiting disclosure to the Inquiry applies, identifying each document or part of a document to which they say that prohibition attaches.
13. Except for in the above circumstances, under section 35 of the Inquiries Act it is an offence to do anything which is intended to have the effect of:
- distorting or otherwise altering any evidence, document or other thing that is given, produced or provided to the Inquiry; or
- preventing any evidence, document or other thing from being given, produced or provided to the Inquiry, or to do anything which the person knows or believes is likely to have that effect.
14. It is also an offence for a person to:
- intentionally suppress or conceal a document that is, and that they know or believe to be, a relevant document; or
- intentionally alter or destroy such a document.
15. Holders of potentially relevant evidence must take a careful approach to the handling and retention of material. Any original copies of documents provided to or by the Inquiry (whether electronic or in hard copy) must be retained by Material Providers and must not be destroyed during the course of the Inquiry, unless express permission is granted by the Chair. Any applications for permission to destroy potentially relevant evidence must be made to the Chair in writing.
16. Material Providers are expected to comply with their own data retention policies after the conclusion of the Inquiry in respect of any material in their possession. [Please refer to section 14 of the Inquiries Act 2005 for when an inquiry comes to an end.]
Rule 9 requests for evidence
17. Where potentially relevant evidence has been identified, a request under Rule 9 of the Inquiries Rules 2006 will be issued in writing by the Inquiry team on behalf of the Chair. The request will be sent directly to the person, organisation or entity being asked to provide the required documentation, unless they have appointed a qualified lawyer to act on their behalf and the Chair has designated the lawyer as that person, organisation or entity’s Recognised Legal Representative (RLR). In those circumstances, the Rule 9 Request will be sent to the RLR.
18. In a Rule 9 Request, the Inquiry may ask for potentially relevant evidence to be provided by a particular date. The Inquiry Legal Team will agree with a Material Provider whether digitisation of documents will be carried out by the Material Provider or by the Inquiry, and whether or not that can be done at the Material Provider’s site. Decisions will be made having regard to the Chair’s duty under Section 17(3) of the Inquiries Act 2005 to act with fairness and with regard to the need to avoid any unnecessary cost (whether to public funds or to witnesses or others).
19. A Rule 9 Request may also ask for the person, organisation or entity to provide a written statement. Any request for a written statement will include a description of the matters or issues that must be covered. More information and guidance on this part of the process can be found in the Inquiry’s Protocol on Witness Statements.
20. The Chair expects every person, organisation or entity to whom a Rule 9 Request is sent to co-operate voluntarily with the Inquiry and provide all potentially relevant documentation within the specified timeframe.
Section 21 Notices
21. If a Rule 9 Request is ignored or refused, or if the Chair considers that the response is incomplete or otherwise insufficient, the Chair may exercise his powers of compulsion by issuing a notice under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005, referred to in this Protocol as a “Section 21 Notice”.
22. A Section 21 Notice may require the person, organisation or entity to whom the initial Rule 9 Request was made to:
- give evidence, either by way of a written statement and/or at hearing; and/or
- produce to the Inquiry potentially relevant documents in their custody or control.
23. Any person, organisation or entity receiving a Section 21 Notice may claim, pursuant to section 21(4) of the Inquiries Act, that they are unable to comply with the Notice or that it is not reasonable in all the circumstances for them to comply. Any claim of this kind must be set out in writing to the Chair as soon as possible. The Chair will consider the claim and decide whether to revoke or vary the Notice. Unless and until the Notice is revoked or varied, it remains in effect.
24. If a person, organisation or entity fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a Section 21 Notice issued by the Chair, they may be guilty of an offence under section 35 of the Inquiries Act.
25. In some circumstances, a person asked to provide evidence under Rule 9 may ask the Chair to issue a Section 21 Notice requiring its production. For example, a person may consider that a formal requirement is appropriate where the evidence contains particularly sensitive personal data or special category data. A request for a Section 21 Notice must be made as soon as possible after receipt of the Rule 9 Request and must explain why the person considers that a Notice is necessary or appropriate. The Chair will decide whether to issue a Notice. Making a request does not guarantee that a Notice will be issued. The issue of a Section 21 Notice does not remove the recipient’s obligations under data protection or other applicable law.
Instructions for Material Providers
26. Material Providers must produce all evidence specified by the Chair promptly, and in compliance with any deadline stated in the Request or Notice. If further potentially relevant documents, not falling within the scope of a Rule 9 Request, are identified, the existence of such evidence must be disclosed to the Inquiry, together with a brief description of what the documents contain.
27. Should a person, organisation or entity require an extension of time for the provision of any evidence requested or required by the Inquiry, a written application must be made to the Chair as soon as possible and, in any event, before the period of time to respond (as specified in the Rule 9 Request) expires. If there is a good reason why a person, organisation or entity would not be able to comply by the deadline, the Inquiry may agree to extend the date.
28. Material Providers must comply with the following standards unless otherwise agreed by the Inquiry:
- All documents must be provided electronically. Paper documents must be scanned before provision to the Inquiry.
- Electronic documents must be provided in their native format (e.g. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, MSG email files), with original file names and any attachments. Where possible, such documents should also be text searchable.
- Documents must be submitted at document level i.e. multiple documents must not be grouped into one large PDF. Similarly, a document must not be scanned as individual pages, but as a single PDF.
- Scanning of documents must be undertaken at a standard of 300dpi (number of dots per inch as scanned). Documents must be scanned in colour where it is critical to the legibility of the document, or where highlighting would not otherwise be seen.
- Scanned PDF images of paper documents must show all information on the paper, including all corners, both sides where information appears on both sides, and any annotations. The scanning process must not omit or cut off any information. Where a document has an attachment, such as a sticky note, or a cover sheet, it must be scanned both with and without the attachment or cover sheet in place.
- All scanned documents must be named appropriately.
- Where any material update or change is made to a document after its provision to the Inquiry, and the Material Provider becomes aware of this, it must promptly inform the Inquiry and provide a revised copy.
Disclosure statements
29. Material Providers are expected to undertake comprehensive, thorough and rigorous searches in response to any request or requirement for the production of evidence. Any Material Provider must also keep a contemporaneous written record of searches carried out and must provide that record to the Inquiry upon request.
30. Unless the Chair decides otherwise, the Inquiry will ask a Material Provider to provide a disclosure statement. A disclosure statement must explain:
- how the Material Provider searched for potentially relevant evidence, including the locations, systems, records, search terms and date ranges searched, where applicable;
- the steps taken to ensure that the Inquiry’s request has been met so far as is reasonable in all the circumstances;
- whether any potentially relevant evidence cannot be produced; and
- if evidence cannot be produced, full detail regarding what is known about what happened to it, and why it cannot be provided.
31. Unless otherwise directed by the Chair, all entities or organisations that have been asked to conduct searches must provide a Disclosure Statement regardless of whether or not they have located or identified potentially relevant evidence.
32. The Inquiry will monitor the progress of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 through Parliament. The Inquiry may update this Protocol and its Rule 9 Requests, including requirements relating to disclosure statements, to reflect relevant changes to the Bill or any legislation resulting from it. Pending the enactment of any relevant legislation, the Inquiry expects Material Providers to assist the Inquiry openly and honestly and to act with candour and frankness. This includes disclosing relevant information, identifying material that may undermine or qualify information already provided, and correcting any information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
The Handling of Documents by the Inquiry
33. Upon receiving documents from Material Providers, the Inquiry will acknowledge receipt and initiate a process for secure document handling. All documents will be uploaded to the Inquiry’s secure document management platform and assigned unique identifiers for tracking and reference.
34. Any original documents provided to the Inquiry in hard copy will be scanned and uploaded to the Inquiry’s secure document management platform. Where there is no question as to the authenticity of a document, and the scan is considered sufficient by the Inquiry team, the original will be returned to the Material Provider. Where a question is raised as to either of these two issues, the document may be retained until the end of the Inquiry.
35. The Inquiry is committed to conducting its work as openly and transparently as possible while handling personal data and other sensitive information carefully and in accordance with applicable law. Written statements, exhibits and other information provided to the Inquiry may be disclosed to Core Participants, used at a hearing or published on the Inquiry’s website where this is considered necessary and appropriate for the discharge of the Inquiry’s functions, and where it is lawful and proportionate to do so. Appropriate redactions and other safeguards will be applied where required, including in accordance with any restriction orders, confidentiality requirements or other legal protections. Further information is available in the Inquiry’s Protocol on Redaction, Anonymity and Restriction Orders and its Privacy Notice.
36. Any objection by a Material Provider to the disclosure or publication of a specific document or category of documents must be set out in the Exhibits List when the documents are provided to the Inquiry. A potential application for redaction or restriction must not delay or impede the initial production of documents.
37. In every case, prior to the publication of documents or information by the Inquiry, Material Providers will be given the opportunity to review and comment on any redaction(s) that have been made to the document(s) supplied. Where documents have been supplied by an archive, the provider and data owner (if different) may be contacted to review and comment on any redaction(s). This process will be agreed on an individual basis between the archive and the supplier.
38. All Core Participants to the Inquiry, as well as witnesses and others to whom material is disclosed, will be required to sign confidentiality undertakings. These require individuals to keep documents provided to them by the Inquiry safe and secure, and any information contained within them confidential until such time as the documents are made public by the Inquiry, if they are made public.
39. All disclosed material must be kept secure. Documents must not, for example, be printed or viewed in a location where they may be accessible to members of the public. Information contained in a document disclosed by the Inquiry must not be shown to or discussed with any person unless that person has signed a confidentiality undertaking and the Inquiry has granted permission. Information provided under the Inquiry’s confidentiality undertaking that is not made publicly accessible must continue to be treated as confidential during and after the conclusion of the Inquiry.
40. The Inquiry will process all personal data in accordance with its obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. In the event that this regime applies to a Material Provider, that Material Provider will be expected to comply with its own obligations when sharing material with, and receiving information and documents from, the Inquiry. Material Providers should take such advice as is necessary to ensure compliance with their obligations.
41. The Inquiry is not a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”) and will not disclose material in response to requests made pursuant to the FOIA.
Conclusion of the Inquiry
42. The Inquiry’s Terms of Reference require it to “establish a publicly available digital archive of all disclosed material (subject to any necessary redactions or closures for legal, national security, or other public interest reasons)”. Documents disclosed to Core Participants through the Inquiry’s document management system may therefore later be included in the publicly available digital archive. Before making a document publicly available, the Inquiry will consider whether any information must be redacted or whether access to the document must be restricted or closed. This may include restrictions imposed by the Chair under section 19 of the Inquiries Act 2005. Subject to any such redactions, restrictions or closures, relevant documents disclosed to Core Participants will be made publicly available through the digital archive.
43. At the conclusion of the Inquiry, documents will be handled in one or more of the following ways:
- transferred to the National Archives and/or government sponsoring department;
- returned to the original provider(s); or
- disposed of under the terms of the Public Records Act 1958.
Point of Contact
44. If you have any queries about this Protocol, you can contact the Inquiry by email at info@orgreave.public-inquiry.uk, or by post – Freepost ORGREAVE INQUIRY. When using the Freepost address, “ORGREAVE INQUIRY” must be written in uppercase.
Review
45. The Inquiry will keep this Protocol under review to ensure that it remains up to date and reflects the needs and practices of the Inquiry. The Protocol will also be reviewed where changes in legislation may require alterations to relevant policy or practice. Any amendments must be reviewed and approved by the Chair. The updated Protocol will then be published on the Inquiry’s website at the earliest opportunity.
This Protocol was last updated September 2026