To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time between deaths and related coroners' proceedings in Northern Ireland. [HL5346]

In the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 the coroner reported 3,436 deaths to the registrar. The average time between these deaths and the report to the registrar was:

deaths not requiring post-mortem or inquest: (1,780 reported deaths (52 per cent)) - less than one week;

deaths requiring post-mortem but no inquest: (1,448 reported deaths (42 per cent)) - 28 weeks, and

deaths requiring inquest: (208 reported deaths (6 per cent)) - 108 weeks.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many coroners' inquest verdicts have been outstanding in Northern Ireland for (a) one year, (b) two years, and (c) three years. [HL5347]

At 22 July 2009 there were 109 inquests outstanding.