Assistant Coroner for Manchester West

Grade: Assistant Coroners Full Day £566.21, Half Day £283.11
Contract: Appointment to Judicial Office Holder
Essential Qualification: Barrister or a solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and satisfy the judicial-appointment eligibility condition which means they will have 5 years of experience whilst holding that qualification.

The Role
Salary fee paid, £ 566.21 (full day), £283.11 (Half Day).
Closing date: 22nd March 2026 at 23:59

Bolton Council is seeking to appoint three Assistant Coroners to support the Senior and two Area Coroners across the full range of Coroner duties in order to deliver a high-quality Coroner service to the people of Bolton, Salford Wigan and Leigh.

Successful candidates will be required to attend a mandatory Assistant Coroner Induction training course on 1-2 December 2026 and a follow up course in June 2027 (date to be confirmed).

About the post:
Bolton Council is looking for three exceptional candidates with excellent proven organisational, management and efficiency skills, as well as experience of exercising sound judgement and communicating effectively. You will work closely with the Senior Coroner and two Area Coroners to ensure the running of an efficient Coroner service that puts the bereaved at the heart of its service.

You will be required to demonstrate knowledge and experience of Coroner law and have experience in conducting investigations and an understanding of court procedure. You will also need to demonstrate the excellent communication and interpersonal skills necessary to deal with sensitive situations.

The successful candidates will be required to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a Coroner as defined in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and associated rules and regulations and as further described in various guidance issued by the Chief Coroner.

Assistant Coroners are required to sit a minimum of 20 days a year. These are fee paid positions although they are likely to involve a regular commitment, which is to be agreed between the Assistant Coroner, Senior Coroner and the local authority.

About You
Who can apply:
The successful candidates will be a barrister or a solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and satisfy the judicial-appointment eligibility condition which means they will have 5 years of experience whilst holding that qualification. They will be under the age of 75 and be subject to the appointment and eligibility conditions within the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (s.23 and Schedule 3).

Statutory terms of the appointment:
Once a Coroner is appointed, they are then a Judicial Office holder until they reach the age of 75 years (compulsory retirement age) unless they choose to resign or are removed by the Lord Chief Justice or Lord Chancellor prior to their 75th birthday.

How to apply:
The candidate pack is attached

If you wish to have an informal discussion or arrange a visit, please contact Mr Peter Sigee HM Area Coroner 01204 338 799.

To apply for this position, you are required to submit a CV, and a full supporting statement of up to two sides of A4 (no smaller than font 11). It is important that your supporting statement fully addresses the assessment criteria detailed in bold in the job summary section above.

In particular please demonstrate how you meet the following criteria:

1. Assimilating and clarifying information
2. Managing work efficiently
3. Working with others
4. Communicating effectively
5. Exercising judgement
6. Possessing and Building Knowledge

If you do not complete a full supporting statement, your application will be rejected. Please ensure you include your work, home and mobile contact numbers, home address and e-mail addresses where applicable. Please note that correspondence will be via e-mail unless otherwise stated. All correspondence and details provided will remain confidential.

In relation to each competency, please provide specific, examples and instances which demonstrate the relevant competency. Generalised assertions, such as ‘it is my practice to’ or ‘I generally/always do x, y or z’ or ‘I have the following general skills’ do not assist the sifting panel in determining if the competency has been met.

About Us
CORONER SERVICE INFORMATION
Area information

The Manchester West Coroner area includes an area of 167 square miles with a current population of around 943,000. It includes the areas of Bolton, Salford, Wigan and Leigh. Bordering coronial areas include: Manchester South, Manchester North, Manchester City, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen and Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens.

Manchester West is an area of high complexity, including a number of Hospital Trusts, HM Prisons, mental health institutions and private care homes. It is a very busy challenging area. There are two HM Prisons within the Manchester West area, HMP Forest Bank, one of the largest prisons in the country with circa 1500 inmates as well as HMP Forest Bank YOI. HMP Hindley, one of the very few prisons in the country privately run, requiring additional scrutiny of deaths. HMP Hindley has two components. HMP Hindley and HMYOI Hindley with a total population of 700.

The number of deaths registered annually is 8881 with approximately 2987 cases (34%) referred to the Senior Coroner. Post-mortem examinations are conducted at three Hospital Trusts by hospital pathologists. Manchester West utilises a CT scanning service initially prior to considering whether an invasive post-mortem is required. The three mortuary locations are Royal Bolton Hospital, Royal Albert and Edward Infirmary (Wigan) and Salford Royal Hospital. In addition to the three Hospital Trusts, forensic Home Office approved post-mortems are conducted at Royal Oldham Hospital with additional specialist reports (neuropathological, paediatric and non-invasive scanning) and Paediatric post-mortems carried out at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. In 2024, 754 inquests were held (25%) and 1746 post-mortem examinations (58%)

The Coroner area contains sections of motorways as well as several major A-roads, main rail lines.

The jurisdiction works with the following Trusts who all have a number of areas of specialism

Salford NHS Trust
Bolton NHS Trust
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust
Private Hospitals

Daily Operations and accommodation

The service is located in dedicated accommodation in Paderborn House, Bolton. There are currently four court rooms within the same building. The coroner’s court is available Monday-Friday allowing inquests to be opened quickly with dates set for inquest hearings, usually within the required six months. The average time from opening to hearing is currently 21 weeks.

14 Coroner’s Officers are employed by Bolton Council and 7 Coroners Officers employed by Greater Manchester Police. In addition, there is a Coronial Service Manager and Deputy Service Manager. The Senior Coroner, the Assistant Coroners and Coroner’s officers are supported by 3 administrative staff employed by Bolton Council.

Accommodation, contracts, tendering, finance and support staff are managed by the Coroner Service Manager, who is employed by Bolton Council.

All staff are co-located with the Senior Coroner.

The administrative support staff are responsible for answering incoming calls from the public on weekdays 8.30am 4pm except Bank Holidays.

Our Values are really important to us, read all about them below, along with all our great staff benefits, the job description/person specification for the role and the important legal bits, and our Top Tips too.

Within Greater Manchester, local authorities have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel. Please see greater.jobs for further information before you apply.

This post is a designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of spoken English as per the person specification.

This organisation has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. That means we will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester local authority or NHS organisation that has signed the commitment, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority, giving you access to our service-related benefits. Please see the home page of greater.jobs for more information.

For more information about working for Bolton Council, please see greater.jobs; for advice and support with your application, contact recruitment@bolton.gov.uk