Decision details

Proposed decision:

To approve the proposal to merge the existing four coronial jurisdictions into a single jurisdiction following the retirement of one of the two Senior Coroners.

Reason for the decision

According to the Chief Coroner’s Office, there are currently 85 coroner jurisdictions in England and Wales and the long-term joint target with the Ministry of Justice is to reduce the number to around 75. Mergers are always considered when the opportunity arises, invariably when a senior coroner retires. The merging of coroner jurisdictions has many benefits as combining jurisdictions leads to greater consistency and uniformity of approach within the coroner service. A reduction in the number of coroner jurisdictions over the last few years has been of considerable benefit.

Background

Mr Roger Hatch, Senior Coroner for the jurisdiction of North West Kent resigned on the 29th of November 2024 to retire in June 2025. 

There are currently four coronial jurisdiction in Kent and Medway. Mr Hatch is Senior Coroner to one of them. Mrs Patricia Harding is Senior Coroner, or Acting Senior Coroner, to the other three.

Mr Hatch’s retirement, therefore, presents the opportunity to formally merge the jurisdiction into one.

How the proposed decision supports Framing Kent’s Future 2022-2026: (https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/strategies-and-policies/corporate-policies/our-council-strategy)

The decision concerns the efficient and effective provision of infrastructure for the community in managing the death pathway, reaching appropriate judicial conclusions and supporting the bereaved.

How the proposed decision supports: Securing Kent’s Future: democracy.kent.gov.uk/documents/s121235/Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

The merged jurisdictions will allow for fully consistent service delivery across Kent and Medway, allowing some initial efficiencies to be made but putting in place the structure to capitalise on any future efficiency opportunities.

Options considered and discarded

Do nothing. This would be counter to the direction of travel of the Chief Coroner who has supported the existing temporary arrangements for three of the four jurisdictions It is likely that those three Jurisdictions would need to be merged, leaving one single jurisdiction without a Senior Coroner and needing to have one appointed. Doing nothing would also limit the ability for efficiencies to be introduced into the services supporting the coroners.

As Cabinet Member for Community & Regulatory Services, I agree to approve the merger of the existing four coronial Jurisdictions covering Kent and Medway into one Jurisdiction covering the same geographical area.