Lucy Letby inquiry: Will ministers be forced to hand chair statutory powers?

There is a ‘reasonable chance’ that Steve Barclay will convert the inquiry into a statutory one, public inquiries expert Emma Norris tells Archie Mitchell

Steve Barclay has so far insisted that the current set-up will ensure that victims’ families get the answers they need (PA Wire)

Ministers are under mounting pressure to grant the inquiry into serial killer nurse Lucy Letby legal powers following fears that it lacks the “teeth” needed to unearth potential failings.

The 33-year-old was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016 in the hospital where she worked.

The murders, which Letby carried out during her shifts on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will be subject to an independent inquiry, health secretary Steve Barclay has announced.