THE Bishop of Liverpool last night vowed his Hillsborough panel’s findings will be made public and be acted upon.

The Rt Rev James Jones made the pledge after meeting the panel for the first time in Liverpool yesterday.

They also held talks at the Cunard Building with three Hillsborough support groups.

It marked the first step in the process of making around 2m secret documents on the 1989 stadium disaster, public. On his hopes for the project, Bishop Jones said: “I’m confident in the panel and their expertise and in our determination that, come what may, we will put into the public domain what we find.

“When truth comes into the public domain, it brings its own pressure. When the first Taylor Inquiry was published the Government acted upon it and the Football Association acted upon it. I hope very much that people will listen to whatever we find and act upon it.”

Bishop Jones opened yesterday’s meetings by reading the names of the 96 victims of the stadium crush.

He is chairing the panel, which will meet monthly for at least the next two years.

They will work with archivists in Sheffield on cataloguing the material and will also pore over the documents before writing a report.

After the meetings, the Hillsborough support groups gave the panel a cautious welcome.

Trevor Hicks, president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: “While history has taught us to be cautious and we’ve been let down in the past, we were pleasantly surprised.