The appointment of a Chief Coroner was suggested by the Conservative party during a Parliamentary debate that received cross-party support when legislated for in 2009. The role was designed to address the lack of leadership and the varying standards of accountability and transparency amongst coroners. This was the first time in its 900 year history that someone was going to be put in charge of this crucial public service.
The Ministry of Justice now intend to replace this role with a Minister’s Board, chaired by the Minister. This will not be a suitable substitute for the role of Chief Coroner which requires political impartiality and needs to be able to act independently to establish the cause of death.
The claim they have made that the Chief Coroner’s role will cost in excess of £10 million pounds is inaccurate and misleading and has not been properly accounted for.
Having a Chief Coroner has been estimated to cost less – and be considerably more efficient – than the government’s idea of delegating the work involved between a number of different people and using a Ministerial Board to oversee the service with the Minister as chair of this Board. Having a Chief Coroner will also provide much needed stability to the service.
The government’s idea of a Ministerial Board chaired by a Minister, with civil servants being delegated the Chief Coroner’s tasks, is vulnerable to constant change as Ministers and civil servants change. The civil servant appointed last year as lead for Coroners, Burials and Legal Services Regulations has already been moved after less than 12 months in post.
The autonomy of the coroner is at real risk if this goes through and government increases its influence in this vital area of the investigation of the true cause of sudden death.
How you can help
We would very much like as many people as possible to help us by sending out our coroners’ postcard (pictured below) appealing to their MP for support for this role. Perhaps family and friends might also want to help? People do not have to be bereaved to send postcards to their MP to raise awareness of this issue and ask for their vote of support.
Cards can be sent anywhere in England and Wales but those sending them must only send them to THEIR OWN MP. All you need to do is enter your MP’s name, sign and put your own name and address and add a stamp! Hopefully you will get a response!
This card has been designed to be a very simple way to make a high impact and get our message over clearly.
To request postcards, please contact Lily in the CRY office – email lily@c-r-y.org.uk or call 01737 363222 – and let her know how many postcards you would like and they will be sent to you immediately. We only have a limited window of opportunity to make an impact so please act soon!
