Decision details

It is proposed to submit a request to the Lord Chancellor to request a merger between the Preston & West Lancashire coroner area and East Lancashire coroner area.  Both senior coroners already work closely together and are supported by Lancashire County Council.  It is felt that a merger between the two coroner areas would support the Chief Coroner's aim for a coroner area to deal with a minimum of 3000 deaths per year and reduce the number of part-time senior coroners.  Support for both coroners is already provided by one central office based in Preston and West Lancashire.

As part of the submission the local authority will ask the Lord Chancellor to consider appointing the Senior Coroner for Preston and West Lancashire as the Senior Coroner for the new jurisdiction and the Senior Coroner for East Lancashire as an Area Coroner.

The local authority and in particular the Cabinet Member with responsibility for the service must provide evidence that they support this proposal.

County Councillor Jennifer Mein, the Leader of the Council approved the recommendations as set out below:-

1)  Support the proposed merger between Preston and West Lancashire coroner area and East Lancashire coroner area and

2)  Recommend to the Lord Chancellor that:

·  the Senior Coroner for Preston and West Lancashire be appointed as the Senior Coroner in the newly formed area: and

·  the Senior Coroner for East Lancashire be appointed as an Area Coroner in the newly formed area.

This decision should be implemented immediately for the purposes of Standing Order 34(3) as any delay could adversely affect the execution of the County Council's responsibilities.  The reason for this is that the Ministry of Justice require immediate confirmation in order to proceed with the application and to meet their deadline.