To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his statement of 17 April, on service personnel killed on operations: changes to arrangements for repatriation, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources available to the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner to carry out military inquests. (132983)

[holding answer 23 April 2007]: The MOD engaged fully with the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner’s office and Wiltshire county council during the planning stages to change the repatriation airhead from RAF Brize Norton to RAF Lynham. The Wiltshire and Swindon coroner plans to transfer as many inquests as he can to the jurisdiction of the “home” coroner.