Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I wish to make the following statement to the House about the inquests of service personnel who have died overseas. All fatalities suffered by our armed forces continue to be a source of profound regret. Our sympathies are with their families. It is particularly regrettable that this statement comes at a time when in recent weeks we have experienced an unusually high rate of fatalities in Afghanistan. Our service personnel risk their lives in helping to build strong, stable and democratic nations, and to protect the interests of the United Kingdom. We cannot pay high enough tribute to the job that they do, or to the ultimate sacrifice that some of them have made. We are, as ever, strongly committed to minimising the effect on their families and loved ones.

Today, we are announcing the progress that has been made since the written ministerial statement on 30 April 2008, Hansard, column 12WS with information about the conduct of inquests by the Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Swindon and other coroners. This statement gives the position at 8 July.

For the first time, the tables that accompany this statement include information about those ongoing cases in which there has been a Board of Inquiry (BoI) report.

The purpose of a BoI is to examine the circumstances surrounding an incident resulting in death or serious injury, to learn lessons and to make recommendations to the chain of command for the improvement of working practices, procedures or equipment, which could help to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident happening again.

In some cases, the initial review of an incident will highlight any lessons to be learned or actions that could be taken to prevent a similar incident happening again. Dispensation from holding a BoI may be given if there are no further lessons to be learned. This is often the case for incidents occurring on operations.

Ministers and the military chain of command attach considerable importance to the timely completion of BoIs but the overriding requirement is that a thorough investigation identifies the right lessons. It should also be noted that a BoI (and the coroner's inquest) cannot conclude until the completion of any police investigations. The coroner's inquest may take place before completion of a BoI although this rarely happens in practice.

Progress with inquests

At the time of the last statement, we reported that since additional funding had been provided by the Government to assist the Oxfordshire coroner, 155 inquests had been held: 141 into the overseas deaths of service personnel and 14 into the deaths of civilians in Iraq whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Brize Norton.

Since April, a further 25 inquests have been held into the deaths of service personnel who died in operations overseas whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Brize Norton or RAF Lyneham. This makes a total of 180 inquests held since June 2006.

Since operations commenced there have been a total of 201 inquests into the deaths of service personnel who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, including one serviceman who died in the UK of his injuries. In two further cases, no formal inquest was held, but the deaths were taken into consideration during inquest proceedings for those who died in the same incident.

Open inquests

(i) Pre-31 March 2007 Fatalities

The statement in April reported that there were 27 inquests to be held into the deaths of service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Brize Norton prior to 31 March 2007. As at 8 July, there are nine such inquests. The Oxfordshire coroner has retained jurisdiction in six of these cases; three have been transferred to coroners closer to the deceased's next of kin. Hearing dates have been set in four cases.

The oldest individual inquest for which no date has yet been set is that into the death of Private Reeves who was killed on 9 August 2006.

In addition there are 10 inquests for the crew members who died together in the crash of Hercules XVI79 on 30 January 2005. These inquests resumed on 31 March 2008 and were adjourned until 30 September.

(ii) Post-1 April 2007 Fatalities

Since October 2007, additional resources have been provided by the Government to ensure that a backlog of inquests will not build up in the Wiltshire and Swindon jurisdiction, now that fatalities are being repatriated via RAF Lyneham. The coroner, Mr. Masters, is continuing the practice of transferring military inquests to a coroner closer to the bereaved family, where possible.

There are 57 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel who died in Iraq and Afghanistan whose bodies were repatriated after 1 April 2007. Of these, Mr. Masters has retained 34 inquests, while 23 inquests are being conducted by coroners closer to the next of kin. Inquest hearing dates have been set in 12 of these cases. Inquests into the two latest fatalities are yet to be opened.

(iii) Inquests into the deaths of service personnel who returned home injured

There remain five inquests to be held of service personnel who returned home injured and subsequently died of their injuries.

We are very grateful for the efforts of all the coroners involved in conducting these inquests.

We shall continue to keep the House informed on a quarterly basis about progress with the remaining inquests. I have placed tables in the Library of the House which outline the status of all cases and date of death of each case. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

Liaison with the next of kin

It is of the greatest importance that the next of kin have full information about the progress of the inquest of their deceased.

We remain committed to providing better support to bereaved military families. The written ministerial statement issued on 7 June 2007 by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, gave details of the support that was then being provided. Since then, we have increased the number of family members who can travel and stay overnight if necessary, at public expense, to attend the repatriation ceremony; and two family members may attend any pre-inquest hearings, as well as the inquest itself, again at public expense.

Visiting officers are crucial in providing the liaison between families and the services, and we continue to give close attention to their selection and training.

On 1 June the Ministry of Defence established the Defence Inquests Unit. This unit acts as the focal point for all coroners' inquests into the deaths of service and Ministry of Defence civilian personnel who die on, or as a result of injuries sustained while on operations; and those who die as a result of training activity. The unit's key role is to assist coroners so that they can complete inquests satisfactorily and as quickly as possible.

The unit's main function is to establish early contact with the coroner for each inquest, and to ensure that they are provided with all relevant paperwork, including reports from the Special Investigation Branch and Board of Inquiry (if convened). The unit will also help advise on subject matter experts for inquests. While the relevant service will, rightly, remain the focal point for liaising with the bereaved families, the unit will work closely with the services to ensure that there is a consistent approach, particularly in terms of providing information to families, coroners and welfare officers.