Midland coroners' lack of resources lead to funeral delays
Jan 28 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post
Families are forced to wait to bury their loved ones because coroners do not have the resources to deal with cases quickly enough, an MP has warned.
Bruce George (Lab Walsall South) said coroners in the West Midlands took too long to deal with paperwork while some councils failed to offer burial services throughout the year.
But speaking in the House of Commons, he warned that some areas were affected more than others - with resources going into Birmingham and Staffordshire, while Black Country coroner services were underfunded.
Mr George was speaking in a debate on planned reforms to the law which will introduce new national standards for coroners.
He said he was concerned that the measures would increase the workload on coroners without giving them the resources they needed, and actually make the problem worse.
The MP also warned that delays in the system were particularly worrying for Jews, Hindus and Muslims, who generally wanted to hold funerals soon after a person died, for reasons of religion or tradition.
He said: “I am sure that local authorities will be angered by what I am saying, but I represent my constituents rather than the council leadership.
“I asked them to look into this more carefully. I believe that it is a question not just of paying the bills, but of paying enough to the coroner service so that it can benefit my constituents by being able to provide a more professional service.
“It is good, but it could be much better if it got more resources.
“In many parts of the country the coroner service needs to be considerably enhanced. The constraints upon the poorer ones are debilitating, making them less functional, and unable to provide a better service.”
And he warned MPs: “We should consider the number of staff who are engaged in the coroner service in Birmingham. Admittedly there are more deaths per year in Birmingham: 4,600, as opposed to 3,600 in the Black Country.
“However, Birmingham had nine officers – now it has eight – along with a host of administrative staff, while the Black Country has six officers and one administrative staff member. It is not fair that the service in the Black Country should have its hands tied by being so grossly understaffed.”
Different regions had different burial practices, he said. “Those who are Catholic or Protestant might be perfectly happy with a period of five or six days - they might consider that to be ample time to say farewell to the deceased - but for those who are Jewish, Hindu or Muslim, the time scale is very different.
“In our society, we have an obligation to ensure that the human rights of all groups are properly respected.
“I know the coroner in the Black Country is more than aware of the requirements of Muslims, but at this stage he is unable to meet those requirements because he simply does not have adequate resources.”
