Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, asked for a discussion on this issue, so I offer my thoughts from this Front Bench. As always, I hate to be the spoiler or wet blanket—that is the Government’s role on these occasions—but I cannot fully support what the noble Lord had to say, although I frequently agree with him, just as I frequently agree with the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. The noble Lord made his case very well. Much of what he said has merit and his ideas are certainly worth considering. There are practical and logistical reasons for a merger. I know from speaking to coroners that they are concerned about pressures of space. Managing to get hold of a suitable venue can be troublesome. No doubt, the Minister will comment on that. Coroners have to take the courtrooms they can get. Many of the services, experts and facilities on which they draw are the same as those used by the Courts Service. But—from our point of view, this is a very big "but", and I think the noble Lord knows that we cannot fully support his proposals—we believe that one of the strengths of the coronial system, which is unique in many ways, is its independence. We value a service that is renowned for its tireless investigation into the cause of deaths and its deep well of practice and expertise established over many centuries. Speaking as a good Conservative, I think that is worth preserving, and I would not want to make the change for the sake of it. That is not to say that such experience would be diminished or destroyed by implementing the changes suggested by the noble Lord, but there is always a danger of that occurring, as could be the case if a massive upheaval occurred in the way that the coroners service and the Courts Service were organised, funded and operated. We do not think that we would be doing anyone a service by jumping into such an upheaval at this stage. It was good to have this brief discussion. We cannot support the proposal at this stage but, as I said, the real spoilers have to be the Government. It is their job to respond and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments. He will do the proper hatchet job.