Coroners and Justice Bill

I acknowledge that accurate recordkeeping is a vital part of the coroner’s role and can help to identify trends. My noble friend referred to these issues a few moments ago. This amendment places in the Bill a requirement to record discontinued investigations. I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, that coroners do keep this information. It is recorded in the annual statistics about the operation of the system, which are published by the Lord Chancellor. The most recent publication was submitted on 7 May. For example, in 2008 approximately 235,000 deaths were referred to the coroner. There were around 31,000 inquests. This shows, if I do my sums right, that the vast majority of investigations—204,000—did not proceed to an inquest. Under our proposed reforms, this type of recording will continue and will be included with any enhancements that the chief coroner requires, or thinks advisable, in the annual report on the coroner system, which the chief coroner will make under Clause 29. In view of this assurance, I hope the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw her amendment.