§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the number of inquests held on persons who died in London workhouses and infirmaries during the latest year for which the figures are available; the proportion of inquests held to the total number of deaths in such institutions, and the number of inquests held on persons over sixty years of age, and the proportion to the total number of deaths over that age; whether he can say what 57 is the general practice in regard to the holding of inquests; and what are the fees paid to medical officers and coroners in connection therewith.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) I have made inquiry, but I do not find that any official Returns give the particulars desired by the hon. Member. The subject of coroners and inquests is not within my province, but I may state that the London coroners are paid fixed salaries, and that a medical man who attends an inquest on a summons from the coroner is entitled under the Coroners Act, 1887, to a fee of one guinea for attending to give evidence at an inquest at which he has made no post mortem examination, and of two guineas for making a post mortem examination and attending to give evidence thereon.