§ 34. Mr. Colin Breed (South-East Cornwall)What plans he has for the provision of legal aid for representation at coroners courts. [84163]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. Keith Vaz)The Government do not intend to extend the scope of legal aid to provide representation at coroners courts in most cases. Unlike most court proceedings, coroners inquests are inquisitorial. Providing publicly funded representation at inquests and inquiries should not be a priority for taxpayers' money. However, the Access to Justice Bill contains a provision to enable the Legal Services Commission to fund representation when exceptional circumstances warrant it.
§ Mr. BreedI thank the Minister for his response—and Liberal Democrat Members, too, congratulate him on his new appointment. He will be aware of the tragic circumstances of one of my constituents, an 18-year-old girl who died last year in unexplained circumstances. Her mother would have found it extremely helpful to get professional advice and support to represent her views and 160 those of others at the coroners court. The lack of such representation has led to further complications and disputes.
I accept the Minister's point about the Access to Justice Bill, but there is a small number of cases in which legal aid would not only assist the families but help to achieve justice.
§ Mr. VazI thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments. The whole House feels for the family of Miss Andrews. I hope that he will pass on to her family my sympathy, as a parent, about the tragic circumstances of her case.
It is important that we prioritise legal aid money and that taxpayers' money should be directed to specific areas. There are exceptional circumstances in which advice and assistance can be given, but not in the cases referred to by the hon. Gentleman. I know that he has worked very hard on the case of Miss Andrews, and it is through his intervention that many of the agencies have opened up and provided her family with access to information. I thank him for that, and I will be happy to meet him and his constituent, Mrs. Andrews, if he thinks that such a meeting would be appropriate, provided that the discussion is not about legal aid. If the hon. Gentleman has found that there are problems in the workings of the system, I will be happy to meet him and discuss them.