Coroners and Justice Bill

May I take away the right reverend Prelate’s suggestion? I have no figures to prove it, but I believe that the instruments of the state, as he calls them—the Ministry of Defence has been particularly mentioned in that context; I will talk about military inquests in a moment—appear much less in inquests now than a few months or years ago, but I need to check up on that. I am grateful for his suggestion. I turn to the amendments from my noble friend Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde and the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig of Radley. Their intention is to exclude representation at military inquests from the usual community legal service means-testing regime. I have explained that the current arrangements where representation can be granted in an inquest in exceptional circumstances, subject to the normal means test, is the best way to assess the need for representation. I add that in all 16 cases where the Legal Services Commission has made a recommendation for exceptional funding in the military field, both I and my predecessors with responsibility for legal aid have agreed that it should be provided. Where funding for a military inquest is recommended to me by the Legal Services Commission, I have the power to waive the financial eligibility limits too and I give careful consideration in doing so in every military inquest recommendation that I receive. I have looked into the figure of 12 out of 69 applications for exceptional funding at inquests generally—not just military inquests—and it is not correct. It relates to out-of-scope inquests during the 2007-08 period only. Deaths in prison custody are recorded by the Legal Services Commission as in-scope inquests. In 2007-08 the Legal Services Commission granted funding for 80 out of 101 exceptional in-scope inquests, a figure which includes but is not limited to deaths in prison custody. What is in scope? That is a complex question that relates to those types of inquest that are subject to a separate authorisation. The type of inquests that are in scope are those concerning a death in police or prison custody during the course of police arrest, search, pursuit or shooting, or during the compulsory detention of the deceased under the Mental Health Act 1983. Of course, military inquests are also included. I hope that those who spoke to the military amendments, if I may call them that, are satisfied by what I have said. We grant legal aid in every request for exceptional circumstances in the military field at present.