Clause 2
11:15 am
Tim Boswell (Daventry, Conservative)
Briefly, may I support my hon. Friend in his queries? Two relevant cases have affected me, as it happens, because of the strange geographical situation I find myself in. I live in the extreme south-west of Northamptonshire. I sometimes have difficulty persuading my constituents that I have lived in my constituency for 40 years, which I have, because I have an Oxfordshire post code. In addition, a motorway immediately adjacent to where I live is policed not by Northamptonshire police, but, by arrangement, by Thames Valley police, because it would clearly be stupid to break up the responsibility for a two-mile stretch of somebody else’s jurisdiction. On one occasion, less than a mile from my home, a fatality took place in which a cyclist fell from the motorway down on to the road below. That created a jurisdiction issue. Subsequently, a former employee—whom we took on part time to look after livestock on my farm, which goes right down to the county boundary and crosses it at one point—was sadly afflicted, after a life of perfect health, by a sudden heart attack. We found him dead in the field, and it was difficult not only in personal terms—obviously—but in terms of sorting out the coronial jurisdiction. Everybody was helpful, but the body was removed to Northampton because the death had occurred in Northamptonshire, notwithstanding that the widow lived within two miles in Oxfordshire and all the interests were down there. Within the spirit of what the Minister seeks to do, I seek an understanding—not in those circumstances, because it is a matter of judgment—that such provision should become more frequent than it has been in the past. To stray briefly into clause 3, if there are difficulties and the coroner is stroppy and reluctant to forgo jurisdiction, the chief coroner might wish to address that matter.
If there is to be a transfer, it is terribly important that the process is cleared quickly for the families involved, so that they, and all the various authorities, know whom they are dealing with—with regard to receiving permission to dispose of the body, issuing death certificates and so forth. We do not want, as we have occasionally had from the Government—I will not stray into that now—a commitment to an administrative system that gives rise to further delay and distress. I hope that the Minister can assure us that the provision will work seamlessly and swiftly to ensure that the inquest and inquiries are carried out in the most convenient and expeditious place.