Senior Powys councillors have unanimously agreed to adopt a charter that public bodies should follow when dealing with people who have lost loved ones in tragic circumstances.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s cabinet on Tuesday, March 4, senior councillors received a report recommending that they adopt the “Charter for Families Bereaved Through Public Tragedy.”

The charter has come out of the work on the second Hillsborough inquest in April 2016, when the former Bishop of Liverpool James Jones was commissioned by the UK Government to conduct a review on the experiences of the Hillsborough families over the years since the disaster.

The Rt Revd Jones developed the charter as part of the review and lessons learned.

This is in order to ensure that the pain and suffering of the families impacted by the Hillsborough tragedy is not repeated in the future and that a culture of openness is promoted across public organisations.

Cabinet member for a safer Powys, Liberal Democrat Cllr Richard Church said: “It’s extraordinary to think that it’s 36 years since the appalling Hillsborough disaster and the shocking loss of life.

“It’s taken 36 years for the consequences and what happened after it to reach this conclusion.

“It’s not about the disaster itself, but the cover ups and attitudes of institutions which were seeking to protect their own reputation in the inquiries and investigation that followed Hillsborough.”

Cllr Church continued: “People might think how is this relevant to Powys because we don’t have football stadiums of this size, but the kind of disaster that happened at Hillsborough could happen anywhere in Wales.

“It could be a transport disaster, fire or any one of number of disasters in which people can lose their lives.”

He added that it only takes one death to lead to a public inquiry when the practices of “cover up and denial” could happen.

Cllr Church: “The charter asks us to place the public interest above our own reputation and I think that’s absolutely key.”

He added that the Welsh Government want to see all public bodies in the country sign up to the charter.

Cabinet member for a greener Powys Liberal Democrat Cllr Jackie Charlton said: “We don’t have big stadiums in Powys, but we have massive public events, we have the Royal Welsh Show, the Green Man and Hay festivals and other events that include vehicles, motorbike, cycles, walking and running.

“By adopting this we’re providing assurance that we not only welcome visitors to our county but will keep them safe as well, so I fully support this.”

Council leader Liberal Democrat, Cllr James Gibson-Watt reminded councillors that the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster is next year.

In Aberfan 116 children and 28 adults died when a coal spoil tip collapsed after a period of heavy rain and sped down the hill engulfing a primary school there.

Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “It’s hard to believe it’s nearly 60 years ago, another example of where the organs of the British state did not respond in a way that we would expect.

“This could not be more appropriate.”

Councillors moved to a vote and unanimously backed the charter.

The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on  April 15, 1989.

It occurred during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and in total 97 people died.

In the aftermath of the disaster South Yorkshire Police fed the press false stories suggesting that football hooliganism and drunkenness by Liverpool supporters had caused the disaster.

Coroners have ruled that the supporters were unlawfully killed owing to the grossly negligent failures by the police and ambulance services to fulfil their duty of care.