Clause 2
11:15 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments. The MOD has also moved a great deal in trying to be far more supportive and flexible in getting the information that we need for those investigations to be carried out.
I hope that I can give both hon. Gentlemen the assurances that they need. There are a number of reasons why a senior coroner might ask another coroner to take on an investigation. The most common reason will likely be that the family so wishes it. If the death occurred in one jurisdiction and the body lies there, but the family lives in an entirely different part of the country, it would be appropriate. I assume that the coroner would be perfectly entitled to ask a colleague to take on that investigation. There might be other reasons. The coroner might know the deceased person and therefore feel that it would not be appropriate to conduct the investigation. The important thing is that the coroner should come to such arrangements so that bereaved families receive the service they deserve and, as the hon. Member for Daventry asked, the inquest is conducted as quickly as possible. The clause replicates broadly section 4 of the Coroners Act 1988.
I am confident that coroners will act reasonably, accommodate requests from their colleagues and help where they are able; they do that at the moment. However, the fact that the chief coroner must be informed that a request has been made will ensure that such requests are monitored, and he will be able to see whether anyone is—or appears to be—misusing the system. Therefore, the chief coroner will be able to intervene, as under clause 3, at an early stage if there are disputes; that will be part of his leadership role.
I turn to the issue of cost. Who will pay will depend on the circumstances; generally it will be the transferring area. However, that will not apply to military inquests, where the local area will be expected to pay. In general, the policy on military deaths is that single deaths will be transferred but multiple deaths will not, for reasons that will be obvious to the Committee.