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1655046

registered interest
date	24/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many Prevention of Future Deaths reports were issued in each of the past five years.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL9639
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/08/2023 answer text <p>With regard to the number of Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports published in each of the last five years, I refer to my answer to the noble Lord Watson of Wyre Forest on 4 July (UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-07-04/hl9054" target="_blank">HL9054</a>).</p><p>The Government does not collate analysis of references to reasons for suicide in PFD reports.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy grouped question UIN HL9638 question first answered 07/08/2023 15:47:24 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1653392

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests have been recorded in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	194390
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coroners-and-burials-statistics" target="_blank">Coroner Statistics</a> each May covering the preceding calendar year. The information is collated from data provided by each of the 81 coroner areas across England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>Data from the published statistics is set out in the table below, across all coroner areas for each of the last five years, on the total number of inquests recorded, the average length of inquests, the total number of inquests open for more than two years, and the total number of inquests suspended and not resumed. The requested information for inquests adjourned for longer than two years in England, London and Barnet only is not collated as part of the annual statistics. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1155711/coroners-statistics-2022-csvs.zip" target="_blank">Table CSV</a> included in the annual publication provides further information for adjourned inquests by coroner area.</p><p>The published statistics also record the average length of an inquest in individual coroner areas and Barnet is part of the North London Coroner area with Brent, Harrow, Haringey and Enfield. Table 13 collates this information by region.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not have a target for the length of time an inquest should take. Coroners are independent judicial office holders and the way they manage their caseload is a matter for them. Following the Covid-19 pandemic the Chief Coroner issued <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/chief-coroners-guidance-no-39-recovery-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank">guidance</a> to coroners on how their services can best recover and tackle backlogs that accumulated in some areas.</p><p> </p><p>Regulation 26 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 require coroners to notify the Chief Coroner of any investigation which has not been completed or discontinued within a year of the death being reported to them, and provide reasons for this. They must also notify the Chief Coroner when such investigations are completed or discontinued.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2022</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number of inquests recorded </strong></p></td><td><p>36,273</p></td><td><p>32,762</p></td><td><p>31,991</p></td><td><p>29,969</p></td><td><p>29,094</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Average length of inquest </strong></p></td><td><p>30 weeks</p></td><td><p>31 weeks</p></td><td><p>27 weeks</p></td><td><p>27 weeks</p></td><td><p>26 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Inquests open for more than 2 years at year end </strong></p></td><td><p>1,760</p></td><td><p>1,366</p></td><td><p>1,104</p></td><td><p>601</p></td><td><p>472</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Inquests suspended due to criminal proceedings and not resumed </strong></p></td><td><p>748</p></td><td><p>729</p></td><td><p>599</p></td><td><p>849</p></td><td><p>834</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 194381 194382 194383 194384 194385 question first answered 25/07/2023 09:48:26 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1650150

registered interest
date	04/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many reports to prevent other deaths were issued by coroners in England and Wales in each of the five most recent years for which figures are available.
tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Wyre Forest
uin	HL9054
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2023 answer text <p>Since 2022, the annual number of Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports issued by coroners in England and Wales has been collated in the Annual Coroner Statistics which are published each May and cover the preceding calendar year. 440 reports were issued in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2021/coroners-statistics-2021-england-and-wales#prevention-of-future-death-reports" target="_blank">2021</a>, and 403 were issued in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2022/coroners-statistics-2022-england-and-wales#prevention-of-future-death-reports" target="_blank">2022</a>.</p><p>The number of PFD reports issued in each year prior to 2021 is not held centrally. However, coroners have a statutory duty to copy all PFD reports to the Chief Coroner, who publishes them on the <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/?s=&amp;pfd_report_type=&amp;post_type=pfd&amp;order=relevance" target="_blank">Judiciary website</a> unless, exceptionally, he decides not to do so in order to protect an individual’s privacy and/or to protect the public from harm. The number of PFD reports published by the Chief Coroner was 384 in 2018; 595 in 2019; and 301 in 2020.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy question first answered 17/07/2023 13:30:45 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1623900

registered interest
date	25/04/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any requirement for a coroner functus officio to respond to emails of an interested person.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL7435
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Coroners are independent judicial officers and the way in which they conduct their investigations is entirely a matter for them. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment on, or intervene in, the coroner’s decisions in relation to an individual case.</p><p> </p><p>There is no specific statutory requirement for a coroner to respond to an email from an interested person. However, the Coroners (Inquest) Rules 2013 and the Coroner (Investigations) Regulations 2013 provide a framework for managing disclosure, including after inquest, to Interested Persons and others. In addition, the Chief Coroner has issued guidance to coroners on disclosure to interested persons (Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.25 on Coroners and the Media).</p><p> </p><p>If a family has concerns about a decision made by the coroner, they may want to seek to discuss this with the coroner. Judicial decisions by coroners are capable of being challenged by making an application to the High Court for judicial review. Complaints about the personal conduct of a coroner can be made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy grouped question UIN HL7436 question first answered 10/05/2023 14:14:03 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1623901

registered interest
date	25/04/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any requirement for a coroner functus officio to provide on request the list of court evidence to an interested person.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL7436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Coroners are independent judicial officers and the way in which they conduct their investigations is entirely a matter for them. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment on, or intervene in, the coroner’s decisions in relation to an individual case.</p><p> </p><p>There is no specific statutory requirement for a coroner to respond to an email from an interested person. However, the Coroners (Inquest) Rules 2013 and the Coroner (Investigations) Regulations 2013 provide a framework for managing disclosure, including after inquest, to Interested Persons and others. In addition, the Chief Coroner has issued guidance to coroners on disclosure to interested persons (Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.25 on Coroners and the Media).</p><p> </p><p>If a family has concerns about a decision made by the coroner, they may want to seek to discuss this with the coroner. Judicial decisions by coroners are capable of being challenged by making an application to the High Court for judicial review. Complaints about the personal conduct of a coroner can be made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy grouped question UIN HL7435 question first answered 10/05/2023 14:14:03 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1520872

registered interest
date	11/10/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendations they outlined in The Coroner Service: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report, published on 10 September 2021 (HC 675).
tabling member printed	Baroness Hodgson of Abinger
uin	HL2475
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government continues to work with stakeholders to make inquests more sensitive to the needs of bereaved families, who remain at the heart of the coroner service.</p><p>We are therefore committed to implementing the six Justice Committee recommendations which we accepted in our response to its First Report on the Coroner Service. To this end, we have already included in the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 a suite of measures aimed at streamlining processes in the coroner’s courts and supporting the Chief Coroner’s post-pandemic recovery plans. A further provision makes it easier for coroner areas to merge, as recommended by the Justice Committee.</p><p>Following the recommendation that we should improve access to the Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People, we are assessing how best to ensure availability in light of user needs.</p><p>We are also considering ten further recommendations made to Government, as outlined in our response, and will take forward any appropriate action as soon as practicable.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy question first answered 25/10/2022 14:46:15 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	4301 label Biography information for Baroness Hodgson of Abinger

1504071

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, why Prevention of Future Deaths Reports have not been published on the Chief Coroner's website since May 2022.
tabling member constituency	Worsley and Eccles South
tabling member printed	Barbara Keeley
uin	45631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>As set out on the Chief Coroner’s webpage, publication of PFD reports has been temporarily suspended to facilitate the transition to a new Judiciary website and will resume as soon as practicable following its launch, which is expected later this autumn. It is intended that all PFD reports issued since suspension of publication will be available from the date of the launch.</p><p> </p><p>Where a PFD report is made in relation to a specific inquest, it can be obtained from the coroner and is available to Interested Persons in the context of the inquest, including bereaved families. In addition, there is nothing to prevent organisations that are the subject of a PFD report from sharing and addressing the areas of concern which it sets out.</p> answering member constituency Clwyd South answering member printed Simon Baynes grouped question UIN 45665 question first answered 07/09/2022 07:42:04 answering member 4800 label Biography information for Simon Baynes
tabling member	1588 label Biography information for Barbara Keeley

1504072

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Chief Coroner on when Prevention of Future Deaths reports will resume regular online publication.
tabling member constituency	Worsley and Eccles South
tabling member printed	Barbara Keeley
uin	45665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>As set out on the Chief Coroner’s webpage, publication of PFD reports has been temporarily suspended to facilitate the transition to a new Judiciary website and will resume as soon as practicable following its launch, which is expected later this autumn. It is intended that all PFD reports issued since suspension of publication will be available from the date of the launch.</p><p> </p><p>Where a PFD report is made in relation to a specific inquest, it can be obtained from the coroner and is available to Interested Persons in the context of the inquest, including bereaved families. In addition, there is nothing to prevent organisations that are the subject of a PFD report from sharing and addressing the areas of concern which it sets out.</p> answering member constituency Clwyd South answering member printed Simon Baynes grouped question UIN 45631 question first answered 07/09/2022 07:42:04 answering member 4800 label Biography information for Simon Baynes
tabling member	1588 label Biography information for Barbara Keeley

1473201

registered interest
date	24/06/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking to steps to (a) minimise costs faced by claimants during an inquest when admissions of liability result in reasonable costs no longer being duty of the defendant and (b) allow bereaved families to further establish in law the principle of equality of arms between families and public bodies.
tabling member constituency	Croydon Central
tabling member printed	Sarah Jones
uin	24650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that bereaved families are properly supported and are able to participate in the inquest process. An inquest is intended to be an inquisitorial, fact-finding event, and in the vast majority of cases, representation is not necessary. There is no question of liability nor defendants, only interested persons, and witnesses are not expected to present legal arguments.</p><p> </p><p>In certain circumstances, legal representation for bereaved families at inquests may be funded through the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme. We believe that the process to access this support should be as straightforward as possible, which is why we removed the means test for ECF in relation to these matters.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst we acknowledge the call for the provision for legal representation for all bereaved families at inquests to ensure “equality of arms” between families and public bodies, we believe that additional lawyers at an inquest will not provide an overall improvement for the bereaved or change the outcome of the conclusion of an inquest.</p><p> </p><p>The refreshed Ministry of Justice Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People is better focused on the needs of bereaved people and is designed to support bereaved families and keep them at the heart of the inquest process. The Guide includes number of key principles that government departments and the lawyers it instructs will follow. These include the need to consider the number of lawyers instructed, bearing in mind the commitment to support an inquisitorial approach.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 30/06/2022 16:14:02 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4631 label Biography information for Sarah Jones

1378433

registered interest
date	15/11/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether officials in his Department are required to provide him with all evidence relating to a death inquest when its findings are under review and subject to a ministerial decision.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	75060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2021 answer text <p>Coroners are independent judicial office holders so it would be inappropriate for Ministers or their officials to interfere in the judicial decisions they make in their investigations and inquests.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 23/11/2021 16:57:36 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq