The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

266. The Opinion Leader record of the 4 December meeting, which issued in January

2007, reported that the Coroner’s service had not sufficiently met the needs of most

families.169 It identified six main issues:

• the time between incident and inquest (more than three years in some cases);

• insufficient notification of an inquest, leaving little opportunity to prepare;

• not having access to key information;

• specific problems with the running of the inquest (including key witnesses not

being present, factual errors, and not having the opportunity to ask questions);

• a lack of sensitivity in the treatment of families; and

• cost and logistical issues (including being asked to pay for documents and the

difficulty faced by some families in paying for legal representation).

267. The report advised that families had also raised concerns relating to their treatment

by the media and the Army’s investigative processes.

268. On 22 January 2007, Mr David Cameron, the MP for Witney, in whose constituency

RAF Brize Norton was located, wrote to Lord Falconer stating that it was “patently unfair”

that Oxfordshire County Council should have to provide funding to clear post‑June 2006

inquests.170 The Council estimated that the Coroner’s office would require an additional

£100,000.

269. On 13 February, Mr Browne replied to Ms Harman’s letter of 18 December:

“... I understand that your officials have confirmed with the Oxfordshire Coroner

that provided the body is not formally reported to him he would be content for the

repatriated body to be transferred directly from Brize Norton after the ceremonial

to the area of the ‘home’ coroner.”171

270. Mr Browne commented that this was a welcome development, provided that

flexibility was retained; there would be occasions when the Oxfordshire Coroner, with the

pathology services available to him, would be able to release a body to the family more

quickly than a local coroner.

271. On 27 March, a DCA official advised Ms Harman that the DCA’s line that

Oxfordshire County Council should provide funding was “becoming harder to

maintain”.172 It was important that Mr Walker was retained to deal with the post‑June

2006 backlog. The DCA would look to the MOD to provide funding, but it was certain

to resist.

169 Report Opinion Leader, January 2007, ‘DCA Meeting with Families of Military Personnel who Lost

their Lives in Iraq’.

170 Letter Cameron to Falconer, 22 January 2007, ‘Coroner Service in Oxfordshire’.

171 Letter Browne to Harman, 13 February 2007, ‘Proposals Arising from Meeting with Relatives of Service

Personnel on their Experience of the Inquest System’.

172 Minute DCA [junior official] to Harman, 27 March 2007, ‘Oxfordshire Coroner: Written Ministerial

Statement on Progress with Iraq Related Inquest Backlog’.

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