Coroner’s court services to be moved from city

THE coroner’s courts in Cardiff and Aberdare are expected to close and services will move to Pontypridd.

Sources say staff will be making the move in March and April, despite town hall officials insisting a “consultation” is still under way.

An insider said staff were told they were being relocated last year.

“The consultation is finished as far as we are concerned and it’s done,” the source said.

In 2015, plans for a “super-coroner” were revealed – but then the idea was that the courts in Cardiff and Aberdare would continue to be used.

According to a Rhondda Cynon Taf Council report, dated September 24, 2015, it was agreed to pursue amalgamating Powys, Bridgend, Glamorgan Valleys, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan coroner areas on February 26, 2014.

A report dated December 15, 2015, by the authority’s legal and democratic services director said the plan would have “the potential to make savings through economies of scale and allow full-time coroners to focus entirely on their coronial duties to develop their skills and experiences fully.”

“Both the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Coroner are in favour of such mergers and actively encourage local authorities to consider the benefits these may bring to both the authority and service-users,” the report said.

In November last year an application was submitted to RCT to build a coroner’s court in an empty building on Court House Street, Pontypridd, previously used for RCT support staff.

Documents describe the proposals as “internal-only remodelling on the second floor to provide a courtroom for the new coroner’s office”.

The listed building, marked on papers as a register office, will see “existing court furniture at Aberdare being relocated” there.

“Our aim is to preserve the key elements of the listing during and after the works, creating a building fit for its intended use as the main coroner’s office for South Wales,” it says.

Those close to the service say there are worries changes will cause problems for those who would otherwise have attended inquests in Cardiff or Aberdare.

“We raised issues because how will this provide a service to elderly people, people who don’t drive and the like?” a source said.

“There will be just one site to serve South Wales centrally.

“That will go up as far as Llandrindod Wells and down as far as Bridgend.”

Powys County Council said inquests into the deaths of those from that county would continue to be held there, so families would not have to travel to South Wales.

“From our perspective, that move from Cardiff to Pontypridd will not have an impact in Powys, because the coroner is still holding Powys-based inquests in the county,” a spokesman said.

A Bridgend Council spokesman said: “Bridgend County Borough Council supports the establishment of a single amalgamated coroner’s office.

“The proposal has the potential for delivering budget savings and increased efficiencies while continuing to meet the needs of communities throughout the region.”

A spokesman for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “A proposal to relocate the coroner service for South Wales central to Pontypridd is currently under consideration. “As part of this proposal, consultation is currently taking place with the appropriate public bodies, which includes consideration of the wider regional facilities currently utilised by the coroner.

“This proposal currently seeks to utilise an existing local authority premises.”

The changes were originally mooted by the Ministry of Justice, which declined to comment, saying: “You would need to speak to the local councils.”