Bereaved Teesside families to face shorter waits for inquests as backlog reduced

Backlog of hearings falls to 130 with families of new deaths now facing an average wait of 14 weeks

Bereaved families should not have to wait more than 14 weeks for an inquest, according to Teesside Coroner’s Service.

A report to Middlesbrough’s deputy mayor, Councillor Dave Budd, says the backlog of inquests, which had increased to 404, has now been reduced to 130 by solicitor Clare Bailey who was appointed acting Teesside coroner, following the retirement of Michael Sheffield earlier this year.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling indicated that Middlesbrough should liaise with its neighbouring authorities, partners and Cleveland Police and draw up a business case regarding the option of merging the two coroner’s areas of Teesside and Hartlepool.

Hartlepool Senior Coroner Malcolm Donnelly is currently undertaking the assistant coroner role.

Last month, the Teesside Coroner’s Service implemented a new model to modernise the service in line with the Coroner’s and Criminal Justice Act 2009 and says the performance has “significantly improved” with new cases being dealt with on average, in 14 weeks.

Mr Donnelly, the senior coroner for Hartlepool and deputy coroner for Teesside, has focused on reducing the backlog of enhanced cases and all these cases have now been reviewed and most are now listed for inquest.

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough, said: “No doubt many bereaved families will be very much appreciative of the efforts of the Hartlepool senior coroner Malcolm Donnelly and the acting Teesside coroner Clare Bailey in achieving such a dramatic turnaround.

“Given this significant progress we will need to examine the proposal for a merger of the Teesside and Hartlepool Coroner’s Services. The efficiencies achieved in such a short space of time are to be very much welcomed and means that the proposed merger is clearly an idea that warrants proper consideration.”