Agenda item

a)    To delegate powers to the Head of Legal Services to prepare job and personal details as well as an appointment process for the post of Senior Coroner and make arrangements to advertise.

b)   To establish a Panel including the Chief Executive, Head of Legal Services and Head of Department to be designated by the Chief Executive in order to draw up a short-list and interview applicants, and to appoint Senior Coroners as needed.

The item was presented by Cllr Nia Jeffreys

RESOLVED

a)    To delegate powers to the Head of Legal Services to prepare job and personal details as well as an appointment process for the post of Senior Coroner and make arrangements to advertise.

b)    To establish a Panel including the Chief Executive, Head of Legal Services and Head of Department to be designated by the Chief Executive in order to draw up a short-list and interview applicants, and to appoint Senior Coroners as needed.

DISCUSSION

A report was submitted outlining arrangements to appoint a permanent Senior Coroner for North West Wales.

Following the retirement of Mr Dewi Pritchard Jones (former Senior Coroner) in November 2020, interim arrangements had been put in place when considering the appropriateness of merging the North West Wales Coroner area with other areas in the region. Following discussions between the UK Government's Courts and Tribunals Department and Gwynedd and Denbighshire Councils (i.e. the relevant authority for the North Wales Area (East and Central)), the Chief Coroner resolved that he would not seek to merge Coroner areas here, therefore, a permanent Senior Coroner should be appointed for the North West Wales Area (Gwynedd and Anglesey).

Attention was also drawn to the formal procedure of appointing a Senior Coroner by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, and by the Chief Coroner's Guidelines which stated that every appointment should be approved by the Chief Coroner and the Lord Chancellor with Chief Coroner also required to approve the appointment process.

It was reported that Gwynedd Council was the relevant authority for the North West Wales Area, which meant that the Council had a statutory duty to meet the associated costs of running the service. It was highlighted that the relevant authority (Gwynedd) needed to form a Panel that would receive advice from the Propriety and Elections Manager and the Chief Coroner's representative, to draw a short-list, to conduct the interviews and to decide on the appointment. The composition of the panel was a matter for the authority, but the Chief Coroner or representative could attend the interviews. If the Coroner Area contained more than one authority, it was noted that the relevant authority must consult with the other authority before appointing a Senior Coroner. In this case, the Isle of Anglesey County Council would be involved in the process as appropriate.

Observations arising from the discussion

·      Keeping Gwynedd and Anglesey as one area was welcomed.

·      The procedure needed to commence as soon as possible.

·      The Welsh language was the main language of Gwynedd and Anglesey Councils - this was essentially important in the context of communication.

In response to a question regarding the inclusion of Conwy in the Area, it was noted that England and Wales had been divided into coroner areas and that only two areas were for North Wales - there was no intention to change this. In response to the comment about the use of the Welsh language, it was noted that this was an essential requirement in the job advertisement.