Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 20
1st Report - The Coroner Service
Published 27 May 2021
Paragraph 157
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee The Coroner Service All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The majority of witnesses to our inquiry, two Chief Coroners, and almost everyone who has been commissioned to review aspects of the Coroner Service sees the need for a unified service for England and Wales. There is unacceptable variation in the standard of service between Coroner areas. The quality of each local coroner service should not have to depend on the local authority and the Senior Coroner having a shared understanding and priorities. The Ministry of Justice should unite coroner services into a single service for England and Wales.
From: Justice Committee, 1st Report - The Coroner Service (HC 68), paragraph 157, 27 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 10 September 2021 (deadline 27 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government accepts some of the Committee's recommendations, commits to further work on others, and does not accept others, including a single national coroner service.
- It accepts the recommendation to make it easier to merge coroner areas, which it says is "currently in progress" in the Judicial Review and Courts Bill.
- It does not accept the recommendation to create a single national coroner service, as it does not think this "would necessarily address the issues facing the coronial system or be the best solution".
- On legal aid for inquests, it will take forward legislation to remove the means test for Exceptional Case Funding applications for legal representation, and will consider wider legal aid in its response to Bishop James Jones' report.
- On a Coroner Service Inspectorate, it "could be merit" in the idea but "cannot accept the recommendation at this stage", citing affordability and other ministerial priorities.