It is commonly acknowledged that inquiries work in the shadow of blame. Existing critical literature has focussed on this issue, but hinges on the idea that inquiries are somehow controlled by the state such that they produce convenient legitimising narratives. As I have already argued, I find this idea unconvincing. This chapter therefore examines culpability narratives within public inquiry reports and how these are rearticulated by governments in order to offer a more nuanced analysis. I find that inquiries have shifted over time from a historically narrow and individualised focus towards broader systemic analyses. Government strategies which utilise inquiries as part of attempts to avoid blame have commensurately shifted from drawing on individualised responsibility narratives within inquiries in order to identify scapegoats, to using the systemic analysis offered by inquiries to blur lines of responsibility and depoliticise crises. I argue that both strategies are effective, but only as means of blame displacement: they cannot eradicate blame or blameworthiness altogether, but they can to some extent redirect it or limit its impact.