The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
MOD’s
policy to repatriate Iraq fatalities to RAF Brize Norton in
Oxfordshire” it would
not be
appropriate for the DCA to make that bid.140
236.
Mr Browne
replied on 10 September, stating that while there was a strong
case
for funding
the additional costs from the Reserve, the Treasury would expect
the bid
to come
from the Department responsible for coronial
policy.141
237.
Lord Falconer
replied on 6 October, advising that while the DCA held
policy
responsibility
for coroners, operational responsibility rested with the relevant
local
authority.142
In this
case, it would normally be for Oxfordshire County Council to
meet
the costs
of the inquests. He continued:
“The
Cabinet Office Ministerial Code of Conduct (paragraph 6.10) clearly
sets out
the
principle that Departments responsible for initiating policy are
required to take
into
account the effect their proposals have on other departments. It is
MOD policy
to
repatriate bodies to RAF Brize Norton rather than Lyneham, Fairford
or elsewhere
and it is a
direct result of this decision that the backlog of cases has
occurred. If
fatalities
were shared amongst a number of coroners this problem would
have
been avoided.
“It is for
this reason that I consider that it is your Department’s
responsibility to
shoulder
the costs arising from the Iraq inquest backlog ... If you are
unable to fund
the
additional resources from your existing budget then it is for your
Department,
not mine,
to approach the Treasury for a Reserve claim.”
238.
Officials from
the MOD, the DCA and the Department for Communities and
Local
Government
(DCLG) met on 8 November to discuss funding
options.143
239.
A DCA official
reported to DCA colleagues only that all three departments
had
difficulties
in providing funding from within their existing budgets. The MOD
had argued,
for the
first time, that it would be inappropriate for the MOD to be seen
to be funding
the inquest
process when it had a clear interest in the cases involved. The
meeting
had agreed
that DCA officials should approach the Treasury informally to see
whether
funding
from the Reserve could be made available and, if not, whether they
could
suggest an
alternative solution.
240.
A DCA official
advised Ms Harman on 13 December that the Treasury had
“not
replied
positively” to that approach.144
The DCA had
subsequently written to the MOD,
asking it
to confirm that it would provide the necessary
funding.
140
Letter
Falconer to Browne, 31 August 2006, ‘Funding for Additional
Resources for the
Oxfordshire Coroner’.
141
Letter
Browne to Falconer, 10 September 2006, [untitled].
142
Letter
Falconer to Browne, 6 October 2006, ‘Funding for Additional
Resources for the
Oxfordshire Coroner’.
143
Email DCA
[junior official] to Tierney, 10 November 2006, ‘Oxfordshire
Coroners: Progress Report’.
144
Minute DCA
[junior official] to Harman, 13 December 2006, ‘Oxfordshire
Coroner: Written Ministerial
Statement
on Progress with Iraq Related Inquest Backlog’.
118