§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 27 January,Official Report, column 385, and his statement in the answer that the costs of relatives at inquests or fatal accident inquiries are not generally a charge on public funds, if he will list the exceptions to this general practice since 1979 and state the criteria or tests applied in making any such determination.
§ Mr. NorrisIt is not usual Government practice to meet the costs of legal representation for relatives of accident victims because inquests are intended to be informal and legal representation is not considered necessary. Any exceptions to this have been judged on individual merits.
The Lockerbie disaster was the only recent instance where Department of Transport funds have been used to meet relatives' legal costs at a transport-related fatal accident inquiry or at an inquest. As regards other Government Department funds, the Lord Chancellor considered that the wholly exceptional circumstances of the Marchioness disaster, particularly the fact that this is 785W effectively the second inquest, justified making assistance available in this case in the interests of justice.