Clause 23
Coroners and Justice Bill
7:00 pm
David Kidney (Stafford, Labour)
The clause imposes a statutory duty on a local authority to provide adequate resources for the local coroner service, but what if a local authority does not provide adequate resources and is in breach of its duty? The Bill is silent. I asked the Minister that question when she gave evidence on the first day, and she thought that the ability of the chief coroner to make an investigation and recommendations, perhaps allied to the coroner service and the Government of the day putting that authority in a bad light to the public, might be sufficient pressure. However, the Government of the day might regret not having the ability to intervene and sort out such a problem, should the time arise. My amendment 92 proposes one way in which a Government might want to intervene to make a direction to solve the problem. I am open to the Minister saying that that is not the right solution, but there should be a solution.