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Coroners: Expenditure

Volume 462: debated on Tuesday 10 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on coroners' services in (a) England and Wales and (b) each coroner's region in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. (148595)

Funding for the coroner service in England and Wales is provided by local authorities and police authorities, in those areas where the police employ coroners officers and administrative staff. Data are not collected on the total spend on the coroner service by coroner jurisdiction.

In 2003 Tom Luce's ‘Fundamental Review of Death Certification and Investigation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland’ (Cm 5831) estimated the total spend on the coroner system in England and Wales to be £71.4 million. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) does publish data on local authority spend by coroner jurisdiction but we cannot guarantee the accuracy of that information.