My right honourable friend the Minister of State (Harriet Harman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I wish to make the following Statement to the House about the inquests of service men and women who have died overseas where jurisdiction has been assumed by the Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, and the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Masters.

All casualties suffered by the UK Armed Forces are a source of profound regret. UK service personnel have put their lives on the line to help build strong, stable and democratic nations and protect the interests of the United Kingdom and we cannot pay high enough tribute to the job they are doing, or the sacrifice some of them have made. We are committed to assisting the families of UK service personnel who have died on operations overseas when their loved ones are returned to the UK.

We made Statements to the House on 5 June 2006, Official Report, Commons, col. 4WS; 12 October 2006, Official Report, col. 26WS; 18 December 2006, Official Report, col. 112WS, and 29 March 2007, Official Report, col. 121WS, with information about the conduct of inquests by the Oxfordshire coroner and today we are announcing progress which has been made since the Written Ministerial Statement in March.

Background

Coroners are independent judicial officers appointed and paid for by the relevant local authority. Their officers and staff are employed by the local authority and/or the police.

Each death of a service man or woman killed in an operation overseas whose body is repatriated to England and Wales is subject to an inquest. The inquest, both the investigation into the death and the holding of the public hearing into the death, is conducted by the coroner with jurisdiction which derives from where the body lies.

In the case of deaths of service men and women whose bodies were flown into Brize Norton military airbase until it could no longer be used for repatriations on 31 March 2007, the Oxfordshire coroner has initial jurisdiction. In the case of deaths of service men and women whose bodies have been flown into Lyneham military airbase since 1 April 2007, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner has initial jurisdiction.

The coroner has powers under the Coroners Act 1988 to transfer jurisdiction to another coroner while the body is still lying within his district and with the consent of the other coroner. Since late December 2006, the Oxfordshire coroner's practice was to transfer jurisdiction to coroners closer to the next of kin wherever possible. This practice has been continued by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner since 1 April 2007.

Progress with the remaining inquests

At the time of the March Written Ministerial Statement, 56 inquests had been held, 46 into the deaths of servicemen and 10 into the deaths of civilians in Iraq whose bodies were repatriated via RAF Brize Norton.

A further 16 inquests have been held into the deaths of servicemen, making a total of 72 inquests which have been held since June 2006.

Of these 72 inquests, the Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, has conducted five, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Sir Richard Curtis, six, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Selena Lynch, 28, Assistant Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner, Andrew Walker, 32, and the Greater Manchester West Coroner, Jennifer Leeming, one.

Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction

There remain 11 inquests to be concluded into the deaths of service personnel in military conflicts and exercises overseas, and four inquests into the deaths of civilians who lost their lives in Iraq and whose bodies were repatriated to Brize Norton before 16 May 2006. This includes the death of a serviceman on an exercise in California in December 2005, details of which we have recently been advised by the coroner.

The oldest outstanding military inquest in the Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction is the inquest into the death of Corporal Allbutt on 25 March 2003, which will be heard on 29 June 2007. The oldest outstanding civilian death inquest in the Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction is the inquest into the death of Antonio Jose Monteiro Abelha on 22 June 2006. This inquest will be heard on 13 July 2007.

The four outstanding civilian inquests all have a hearing date. All but one of the outstanding inquests into servicemen's deaths before 16 May 2006 has a hearing date and these inquests are due to be heard by the end of October 2007. The MoD recently determined that there should be a board of inquiry in the case of Lieutenant Palmer who died on 28 February 2006. His inquest will not be heard until 2008.

Of the 66 more recent cases since the 16 May 2006, which have been repatriated via Brize Norton, the Oxfordshire coroner has retained jurisdiction in 50 cases and has transferred 16 inquests to other coroners with jurisdiction closer to the next of kin of which one inquest has been held. Of those retained by the Oxfordshire coroner, pre-inquest hearing dates have been set in 17 cases, hearing dates set in nine cases and progress made in the remainder. Of the 15 inquests which have been transferred to other coroners, progress has been made and dates set for three inquests.

Wiltshire and Swindon coroner's jurisdiction

There remain 10 inquests into fatalities which were repatriated via RAF Lyneham prior to 16 May 2006. These relate to the deaths of 10 crew members who died together in the crash of Hercules XV 179 on 30 January 2005. The coroner held a pre-inquest hearing in February 2007 and hopes to fix a date for the inquest after a further pre-inquest hearing in July/August.

A further 22 inquests relating to deaths since 16 May 2006 fall within the jurisdiction of the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner. Of these, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner has transferred, or is in the process of transferring, 12 inquests to other coroners with jurisdiction closer to the next of kin. A further inquest has been heard by the Liverpool coroner, Andre Rebello.

We are very grateful for the efforts of all the coroners involved in conducting these inquests.

We shall continue to keep the House informed on a quarterly basis about progress through the remaining inquests. I have placed a table in the Library which outlines the status of all cases and the date of death of each case. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

Liaison with the next of kin

It is of the greatest importance that the next of kin have full information about the progress on the inquest of their deceased next of kin.

In order to further improve the service to families, I invited to meet me on 4 December 2006 the families of service personnel who died in Iraq whose inquests had been held. We are grateful to the 17 relatives of the 12 deceased service men and women who gave us the benefit of their views and experiences so as to improve the inquest system for the benefit of future families of members of the Armed Service who die abroad.

Following that meeting we have been working on better supporting bereaved military families. My right honourable friend the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence (Adam Ingram) issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 7 June, Official Report, Commons, col. 26WS, giving details of the support which is now being provided.”