16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
376.
The following
day, an MOJ official advised Ms Prentice that the 14 December
2007
meeting of
officials, and subsequent exchanges, had identified “no simple
solution”.245
There were
plans for officials to meet again.
377.
On 4 November,
Mr Bob Ainsworth, successor to Mr Ingram as Minister of
State
for the
Armed Forces, informed the House of Commons that: “No reply [to
Mr Browne’s
letter of
27 March] has yet been received from the Scottish
Executive.”246
378.
That exchange
prompted Mr Ainsworth to ask MOD officials how momentum
could
be regained
on the FAI issue.247
379.
An official
advised Mr Ainsworth on 11 November that the Scottish
Executive had
given
“considerable thought” to how inquiries could be held in Scotland
without changing
the
devolution settlement, but Scottish Ministers did not appear to
have come to a
conclusion.
The official was not sure that work was now being actively pursued.
It was
not
satisfactory to let the issue drift.
380.
Mr Ainsworth
wrote to Ms Prentice the following day, proposing that
Ministers and
officials
should meet to consider the way forward.248
A copy of
the letter was sent to
Ms Ann
McKechin, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scotland
Office.
381.
Mr MacAskill
replied to Mr Browne’s letter of 27 March on 19
November.249
382.
After a
further exchange in January 2009, Mr Ainsworth wrote to
Mr MacAskill on
29 January
stating that “we do indeed have the basis for a way
ahead”.250
That was
to
use the
Coroners and Justice Bill to amend the Fatal Accidents and Sudden
Deaths
Inquiry
(Scotland) Act 1976, so that the Chief Coroner (a new post that
would be created
by the
Coroners and Justice Bill) could request the Lord Advocate to
hold an FAI into
383.
Section 12 of
the Coroners and Justice Act provided for the Secretary of State
or
the Chief
Coroner to notify the Lord Advocate that a death should be
investigated under
the Fatal
Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act
1976.252
245
Minute MOJ
[junior official] to Prentice, 28 March 2008, ‘Coroners Service in
Oxfordshire’.
246
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 4
November 2008, column 294W.
247
Minute MOD
[junior official] to PS/Minister(AF) [MOD], 11 November 2008,
‘Fatal Accident Inquiries
in Scotland’.
248
Letter
Ainsworth to Prentice, 12 November 2008, ‘Inquiries into the Deaths
of Scottish‑based Service
Personnel’.
249
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 3
February 2009, column 1111W.
250
Letter
Ainsworth to MacAskill, 29 January 2009, [untitled].
251
Minute
Scotland Office [junior official] to Parliamentary Under Secretary
of State [Scotland Office],
28 January
2009, ‘Fatal Accident Inquiries and overseas Service
deaths’.
252
Coroners
and Justice Act 2009, Section 12(4) and (5).
141