Legal background Advocates for major incidents
The provisions that create advocates for major incidents are new. Section 41 amends section 47 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 so that an advocate appointed to assist victims of a major incident will be an interested party to an inquest arising out of that major incident.
	Section 46 "consequential amendments" inserts "An advocate for victims of major incidents appointed under Part 2 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024" into: paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Public Records Act 1958; Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967; Schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975; Part 6 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and Schedule 19 to the Equality Act 2010.
	The effect of these changes is that: the Public Records Act 1958 applies to advocates and will require an advocate to take steps to preserve records; advocates will also be subject to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 which sets out the circumstances when the Commissioner can investigate a written complaint which is made to a member of the House of Commons; advocates will be disqualified from membership of the House of Commons; advocates will be a "public authority" as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and finally, the public sector equality duty also applies to advocates.