16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
The
discussions between the DCA, the MOD, and the Treasury from July
2006 to
February
2007 on that issue are described below.
230.
The DCA bore
the costs that were being incurred by the Oxfordshire
Coroner’s
office
while those discussions continued.134
231.
On 22 May
2006, Mr Alex Allan, Permanent Secretary at the DCA, and
Mr Ian
Andrews,
2nd Permanent Under Secretary at the MOD, discussed how the
additional
funding
required by the Oxfordshire Coroner might be found.135
Mr Allan’s
Assistant
Private
Secretary reported that Mr Allan had stated that neither the
local authority
nor
the DCA could provide that additional funding. Mr Andrews
said that the Treasury
met the
MOD’s “operational costs”, and indicated that the funding for the
Oxfordshire
Coroner
should be included within that arrangement.136
That would
be for the MOD to
explore
with the Treasury.
232.
On 20 July,
Ms Harman sent Mr Browne an update on progress on
clearing the
backlog of
inquests, and concluded that she “hoped that we can clarify the
amount
of money
you will pay”.137
233.
On the same
day, Ms Harman wrote to Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the
Secretary
of State
for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, asking if he
would speak
to
Mr Browne to ensure that Mr Browne’s decision to provide
£250,000 would be
communicated
to MOD finance officials.138
234.
Mr Browne
replied to Ms Harman on 14 August stating that, as he had
previously
indicated,
given that the inquests were a result of operational commitments,
his
preference
would be for the additional funding to be sought through a call
against the
Reserve.139
He stood
ready to support a request to the Treasury. If funding could
not
be secured
from the Reserve, he was “in principle willing to provide a
contribution of
£125,000
for the first year towards the financial costs of the additional
resources, subject
to
Accounting Officer and Treasury approval”.
235.
Lord Falconer
wrote to Mr Browne later that month, stating that £125,000
was
insufficient
to cover the costs involved and that, while DCA officials would
look at the
suggestion
of making a bid on the Reserve, “given that the backlog is driven
by the
134
Letter
Harman to Browne, 28 December 2006, ‘Proposals Arising from Meeting
with Relatives of
Service
Personnel on their Experience of the Inquest System’.
135
Email DCA
[junior official] to DCA [junior official], 22 May 2006, ‘Coroners
– Inquest Delays/MOD’.
136
The
established arrangements whereby the MOD claimed the Net Additional
Costs of Military
Operations
(NACMO) from the Treasury are described in Section 13.
137
Letter
Harman to Browne, 20 July 2006, ‘Iraq Inquests
Backlog’.
138
Minute
Harman to Falconer, 20 July 2006, ‘Funding for Extra Resources for
the Oxfordshire Coroner’.
139
Letter
Browne to Harman, 14 August 2006, ‘Iraq Inquest
Backlog’.
117