Clause 4
11:45 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
I hope that I can give the hon. Lady that assurance. I am a great campaigner for plain English in all Government documents. I have not been successful on many occasions, but split infinitives and aberrant apostrophes are included in my campaign for making sure that people get the information that they need. Of course, people can return to the coroner and ask for further information. I know that many coroners often invite families to see them and talk through the situation, which is often much better than receiving something in writing.
An awful lot of deaths are referred to the coroner because the cause of death is unknown, but then a post-mortem reveals natural causes and that there is a perfectly natural explanation. If that happens, there really is no need for the coroner to investigate the death further. Sometimes, investigating a death further can cause additional stress and concern to bereaved families. That is the reason why this clause is set out as it is, but one has to be sure that it is only the appropriate cases that are discontinued. If it is suspected that the death was violent or unnatural, or if it occurred in custody or in other forms of detention, those cases must progress to an inquest.
Finally, on the point made by the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk, clause 30(2)(b) provides an appeal system for families, if an inquest has been discontinued.