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URGENT UPDATE - 23/11/2011
Stunning u-turn by
Secretary of State Ken Clarke over the role of Chief Coroner
The prospect of again losing
the battle in the House of Lords - who were so successful a year ago in
blocking the Government's decision to axe the role of Chief Coroner - has
resulted in a last minute amendment establishing the role of Chief Coroner
in the Public Bodies Bill. The British Legion has considerable influence in
the House of Lords and some of you might have seen yesterday’s high impact
full page article in the Sun appealing for support.
However the further fight is
whether the option of retaining the Appeals Process can be won in today's
debate. We will keep you informed of the final outcome.
Further information is
available on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8907969/Military-inquests-Chief-Coroner-created-in-Coalition-climb-down.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15847352
UPDATE - 22/11/2011
The House of Lords
will once again consider the Public Bodies Bill on Wednesday 23rd November.
Baroness Finlay has again tabled an amendment to take the Chief Coroner and
associated offices back out of this Bill and hopefully the House of Lords will
back the new amendment as they did in December last year.
If successful, the issue will
then return to the Commons where the Government will be under intense
pressure to remove the Chief Coroner from the Public Bodies Bill as it would
mean the whole of their Public Bodies Bill would fail if it stayed in. If
this happened, the Government would be expected to put forward alternative
proposals as set out by INQUEST and the Royal British Legion in their
September 2011 proposal:
http://inquest.gn.apc.org/pdf/briefings/INQUEST_October_2011_Briefing_on_Public_Bodies_Bill.pdf
However, first the Peers need to support Baroness
Finlay's amendment by voting for it (or abstaining from the vote). As the
Government will be putting intense pressure on their Peers to vote against
the amendment this is likely to be a much tighter vote than last year.
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CRY
statement - 26th October 2011
We are very sorry to report that
despite everybody’s efforts and a
robust debate in the House of Commons yesterday
(October 25th),
Conservative MP Andrew Percy's amendment to remove the Chief Coroner
from the Public Bodies Bill was defeated 235 – 287; i.e. a majority of
only
52 votes, with a high
number of abstentions. CRY has produced a
spreadsheet
showing how MPs voted on this issue; and more details can also be found
here.
This was in spite of
months of fervent protests, including the British Legion, who received
considerable media coverage by emphasising the need for a Chief Coroner
for military inquests and published a poll of 2,000 people confirming
that 69% say that appointing a Chief Coroner is a matter of principle
not a question of cost; CRY, who had sent out 9,300 postcards over 10
weeks requesting support for the role of Chief Coroner; and a letter
published yesterday in The Times supported by 18 leading charities.
The office
of Chief Coroner has now been reinstated into the Public Bodies Bill and
will again return
to the House of Lords for their consideration.
No date has yet been given as to when when this will be. We hope
that the strength of feeling shown will encourage Peers to again
challenge the government over this issue when it returns for 'Lords
Consideration of Commons Amendments',
and build on their previous inspirational success of last December
(see Public Bodies
Bill; Amendment 26; page 528
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/lhan84.pdf).
The
debate from the 25th October can be read at column 246:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm111025/debtext/111025-0003.htm |
Ahead of
October 25th's debate on the Public Bodies Bill, 18 national charities wrote
to The Times to urge MPs to vote to take the office of the Chief Coroner out
of the Bill. The letter reads:
Charities
supporting bereaved people will be watching MPs closely today. Two years ago
we welcomed Parliament’s decision to establish a Chief Coroner. Now as part
of the Public Bodies Bill before the House of Commons today, the Government
proposes to dismantle this vital post.
Inquests
into contentious or sudden deaths – in accidents, in road crashes, at work,
through suicide, in custody or in the Armed Forces – are often the only
public forum in which bereaved people can seek answers and other lives can
be safeguarded. But they are beset with unacceptable delays, inconsistent
standards of service.
The Chief
Coroner, as the centrepiece of the Coroners and Justice Act passed with
cross-party support in 2009, underpins a necessary overhaul. The role was
designed to ensure judicial oversight, enforce national standards and
increase accountability. The Chief Coroner would lead the development of a
functioning system that could make a vital contribution to saving lives.
The
proposals to dismantle the role and transfer certain responsibilities to
others will not bring about the reform necessary to improve bereaved
families’ experiences. Instead, the piecemeal measures will add further
complexity and uncertainty to an already fragmented system.
We must not
lose this opportunity to create an inquest system fit for the 21st Century
with bereaved families at its heart. That is why we urge all MPs to support
the amendment tabled by Conservative backbencher, Andrew Percy MP, to remove
the Chief Coroner from the Bill.
Helen Shaw,
Co-Director, INQUEST
Chris
Simpkins, Director General, The Royal British Legion
Javed Khan,
Chief Executive, Victim Support
Debbie
Kerslake, Chief Executive, Cruse Bereavement Care
Pamela Dix,
Executive Director, Disaster Action
Catherine
Johnstone, Chief Executive, Samaritans
Alison
Penny, Childhood Bereavement Network: National Children’s Bureau
Ann
Chalmers, Chief Executive, Child Bereavement Charity
Mark
Goldring CBE, Chief Executive, Mencap
Neal Long,
Chief Executive, Sands
Angela
Samata, Chair, Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide
Diana
Youdale, Chief Executive, The Compassionate Friends
Peter
Walsh, Chief Executive, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA)
Stephanie
Trotter OBE, President & Director, CO-Gas Safety
Cynthia
Barlow, Chair, RoadPeace
Alison Cox
MBE, Founder & Chief Executive, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)
David
Hines, Chairman, National Victims’ Association
Eve
Henderson, Director & Co-founder, Support After Murder & Manslaughter Abroad
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