News reaches us from Andrew Turner’s office that a bill going through Parliament at the moment (The Coroners’ and Justice Bill) could reduce the number of coroners across the UK by almost half, from 112 to 60.
It’s part of a national reform to make the Coroners’ Service uniform by cutting the number of coroners and only employing them on a full-time basis.
Obviously not having a full time coroner on the Island would mean having to ship one in every time there was a case, which could work out pretty costly for the taxpayer.
During a session of oral questions yesterday, Andrew Turner asked Michael Wills MP, Minister of State for Justice whether he agreed that the service on the Island should be retained.
The Minister replied,
“I agree with everything the Honourable gentleman has said and I can assure him that as part of the review, there are no plans to do away with the presence of a coroner on the Isle of Wight”.
Mr Turner later said:
“I am pleased the Minister agrees that we need a coroner based on the Island. It would be a terrible waste of taxpayers’ money if we had to ship one in from the mainland for every case. Whilst the Island is not geographically distant from other centres which have a coroner, such as Portsmouth or Southampton, we all know it is a distinct entity with a large population. On this basis, retaining a local coroner is vital to ensure justice continues to be done on the Island. I am concerned, however, that the bill may reduce the service to rural areas across the rest of the country. The Minister claimed that no decisions on this matter would be made without consultation, I hope he keeps his word on both counts.”
