The Inquiries Act 2005 and the Inquiry Rules 2006 allow some discretion as to how public inquiries operate, provided that they do so within their terms of reference. A crucial first step will be for Dr Wilcox to set those terms. The terms of reference will identify the key questions that the inquiry should address, stipulate the information the government wants to obtain, and provide a rough timeline for the publication of any report. Given the persistent strength of feeling about the Battle of Orgreave, it is possible the development of the terms of reference will involve a level of public consultation or engagement with core participants.

Once published, the next steps for the inquiry will be to secure relevant documentary evidence, identify witnesses, obtain witness statements, and set a timetable for hearings. This sounds straightforward, but in our experience, the collation and analysis of evidence is a time consuming and difficult task. Given the time which has passed, document retention will be an issue as will the recollection of historic memory.