Coroner areas in England and Wales

FOI ref: FOI-2025-2875

You asked

It is understood that Coroner areas were established by s.22 CJA 2009, and Schedule 2 of this Act, provides for an order to further define. The requester has read the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (Coroner Areas and Assistant Coroners) Transitional Order 2013, of which there have been  numerous amendments to this initial order.  Whilst helpful, these are complicated by the way the amending orders were created and so a definitive list is sought. Further, the requester seeks the additional information to supplement:

1. A definitive user-friendly up-to-date list of the current coroner areas in England and Wales, coupled with a breakdown of the local authorit(y)ies covered.  The contact email for each is sought. 

2. The named senior coroner for each coroner area, coupled with a breakdown of the arrangements of area and assistant coroners (e.g. name and area/duties covered).

3. Information concerning research that ONS engages in and details as to how the information is collected, by what proforma and in contact with what agency/appointment and at what level - governmental/regional or by coronial area.  The requester is aware of the CC's reporting duties under CJA 2009, but seeks awareness of wider engagement in respect of Coronial Services in England and Wales with ONS specifically.

We said

Thank you for your request. 

We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for England and Wales. These are driven from information provided on the death certificate and the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD).  

We do not hold a list of current coroner areas, local authorities covered, contact or duties covered. Neither do we hold details on how coroners collect their information. This information is held by the Ministry of Justice. They can be contacted by emailing data.access@justice.gov.uk. 

With regards your final question, the following paragraphs summarise how information flows from coroners to us for the cases that are referred to them.

Where deaths are referred to and sometimes then investigated by a coroner, the coroner sends information to the registrar, and this is used instead of a MCCD to register the death.  

Following an inquest, coroners may submit to us details of how a fatal accident occurred. This is rare, as coroners normally only certify the cause of death after their investigations are complete, so the first and only information we receive about these deaths is the final underlying cause. Coroners may also provide a final underlying cause of death and conclusion much later, to enable an accelerated registration following an adjourned inquest  

Where a registrar receives a coroner's certificate after inquest on Form 99(REV), the registrar must register the death. Part I of the coroner's certificate Form 99(REV) A provides the particulars for the registration. In some cases, additional information is provided on Part B of the coroner's certificate (available in the associated download). Part V Form 99(REV) B relates to the circumstances of the death and must be annotated by the registrar with details of the district and sub-district code and the register and entry number, and forwarded weekly to the Office for National Statistics.

Further details on the coronial information supplied us through the General Register Office can be found in our User Guide to Mortality Statistics.