Clause 20
Coroners and Justice Bill
5:45 pm
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Justice; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
I was going to make the point—my hon. Friend has done it for me—that it is not the coroner’s fault. He has been facing huge pressure. That is why we need action. That is why the draft Bill introduced a procedure for setting up a coroner for treasure.
I shall cite some remarks made by the Leader of the House, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), when responding to a debate on coroner reform in February 2006, a debate in which I had the privilege to speak. She said that
“treasure trove is an ancient jurisdiction of coroners. Sometimes, such cases can take two to three years to resolve, because treasure trove is always put at the back of the queue and dealt with locally. That does not make sense. We will make one coroner nationally responsible for treasure trove and get that dealt with effectively.”—[Official Report, 6 February 2006; Vol. 442, c. 613.]
If it was sensible in 2006, why is it not sensible now? What the Government proposed then makes a great deal of sense. There is obviously a need for action, but the draft proposals have been dropped.