Issue - meetings

The Director of Customer & Corporate Servicesto present a report which seeks approval to undertake discussions with North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) to explore merging the City of York Council and NYCC coroner areas, at the request of the Chief Coroner and the Ministry of Justice.

Resolved:  That approval be given to hold discussions with NYCC to explore the merging of coroner areas, in accordance with Option 2.

Reason:     To improve resilience and efficiency, with minimal financial impact and in line with the Chief Coroner’s guidance.

The Director of Customer & Corporate Services presented a report which sought approval to undertake discussions with North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) to explore merging the City of York Council (CYC) and NYCC coroner areas, at the request of the Chief Coroner and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The Chief Coroner’s guidance on merging coroner areas (Guidance Note 14) was attached as Annex 1 to the report.  York was currently a single coroner area, with a temporary part-time senior coroner.  NYCC had two coroner areas, East and West.  In 2014, CYC’s refusal to merge with Hull & East Riding had been upheld on the understanding that it would explore a merger with NYCC when one of their senior coroners retired.  NYCC was now considering whether to merge its two areas, with the East area senior coroner due to retire in March 2019.  

Two options were available:

Option 1 – seek permission from the Chief Coroner for York to remain as a separate area.

Option 2 – open discussions with NYCC to consider merging the coroner areas.  This was the recommended option, as a merger would be in line with the wishes of the Chief Coroner, the MoJ, the senior coroners and North Yorkshire Police.  It would also provide a more resilient, efficient and consistent service and was likely to result in a small financial saving. 

Resolved:  That approval be given to hold discussions with NYCC to explore the merging of coroner areas, in accordance with Option 2.

Reason:     To improve resilience and efficiency, with minimal financial impact and in line with the Chief Coroner’s guidance.