Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 21
1st Report - The Coroner Service
Published 27 May 2021
Paragraph 166
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)
As with calls for a national service for England and Wales, there is an overwhelming and long-standing view that the Coroner Service would benefit from the presence of an inspectorate overseeing its work. As with those calls, we are merely repeating what others have repeatedly said by recommending that the Ministry of Justice should establish a Coroner Service Inspectorate to report publicly on how well each area accords with the Chief Coroner’s ‘Model Area’, its readiness in case of mass fatalities and the level of service provided to bereaved people. The Ministry of Justice should create a Coroner Service Inspectorate.
From: Justice Committee, 1st Report - The Coroner Service (HC 68), paragraph 166, 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.