Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of pathologist’s available to assist in coroners’ services.

The shortage of pathologists to undertake coronial post-mortem examinations is a long-standing and cross-cutting issue.

I am concerned that progress should be made to address the shortage as soon as practicable and so am engaging with relevant Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement urgent action to address the complex underlying issues.