ABSTRACT
It has been seen already that statutory inquiries are provided for as a prerequisite for many decisions by central government departments. Such decisions may arise principally from proposals initiated by local authorities, as seen in the examples already given, or by the central government department itself as where the Department of Transport seeks to provide a trunk road under the Highways Act 1980. In addition to these inquiries there are various other categories of statutory inquiry which, although resorted to much less frequently, need to be noted. These other inquiries fall into three categories: accident inquiries, company inquiries and tribunals of inquiry.
