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Coroners and Justice Bill

I am grateful for the degree of assurance that the Minister has given, but while there is some flexibility, flexibility can be used helpfully or unhelpfully. For example, if the local authority is flexible in the time that it takes to make the payments, someone could be out a good deal of money for a considerable period of time. Also, the concern is not whether the local authority might eventually pay the money, although that is a concern, but that if it is not prepared to guarantee payment in the first place, the personal liability will have to be undertaken by the coroner. I would like to press the Minister to help us by making clear that we will not have the position, as we have had on occasion in the past, when a local authority has refused in advance to guarantee that payment would be made, and therefore the personal liability at that stage had to be undertaken by the coroner, even though subsequently payment might well have been made.