The Justice Committee launched an inquiry this week into the Service. There are 88 coroner areas in England and Wales, although not all have a dedicated court to carry out inquests.
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 introduced several reforms in 2013, including the appointment of a Chief Coroner. The Ministry of Justice reviewed the Act’s effectiveness in 2015 but has not published the results.
The Committee is looking for written evidence submissions via the Committee’s website by 2 September, 2020. It is interested in: the extent of unevenness of coroner services, including local failures, and the case for a National Coroners Service; the capacity to deal with multiple deaths in public disasters; ways to strengthen coroners’ roles in terms of prevention of avoidable future deaths; how the Service has dealt with COVID-19; progress with training and guidance for coroners; improvement in services for the bereaved; and fairness in the Service.
Sir Bob Neill MP, chair of the Justice Committee, said: ‘The Chief Coroner has said that many coroner areas have been neglected for years in the provision of resources.
‘The 2009 Coroners and Justice Act was supposed to put the needs of bereaved people at the heart of the Coroner Service; for coroner services to be locally delivered within a framework of national standards; and to enable a more efficient system of investigations and inquests.
‘The Ministry of Justice has not published its review of the Coroner Service and we are concerned that not enough progress has been made.’
Find out more at: www.parliament.uk/justicecttee.
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