COPFS death reporting guidance review
Vale of Leven Inquiry · The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · Issued 24 November 2014 · Addressed to: COPFS
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal service (COPFS) should review its guidance on the reporting of deaths regularly and at least every two years.
Vale of Leven Inquiry, The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · 24 Nov 2014 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Scottish Government wrote to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) requesting action on this recommendation. COPFS publishes guidance on the reporting of deaths to the Procurator Fiscal, including guidance for medical practitioners (COPFS, Reporting Deaths).
- However, the specific recommendation was that COPFS should review its death reporting guidance regularly and at least every two years. There is limited published evidence of a formal, regular two-yearly review cycle for COPFS death reporting guidance since the Vale of Leven inquiry.
- COPFS death reports decreased by 30% between 2010/11 (13,090) and 2014/15 (9,155), while Fatal Accident Inquiries more than doubled in 2014/15.
Response — verbatim from government
●Scottish Government
Section 5.1 of the Scottish Government's response details actions taken to implement the report's recommendations, including R70. The Government wrote to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in December 2014, requesting an assessment of progress against the recommendations. This initiative is part of a broader commitment to ensure all 75 recommendations are fully implemented and monitored.
Scottish Government · 18 Jun 2015 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 18 Jun 2015 · COPFS COPFS confirmed it would review guidance on death reporting regularly. COPFS has revised its Guidance on Investigation of Deaths over the period since the inquiry. View source → Reasonable Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.