Councillors have welcomed a fall in the number of families waiting to learn how their loved ones died.

The backlog of cases at Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire's joint coroners service has fallen from 672 in February to 606, with the number of cases above the six-month statutory time limit for an inquest dropping from 260 to 240.

Last year, elected members at Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council, which jointly fund the service, agreed a £519,000 funding boost for new staff to increase capacity.

A new full-time area coroner started work in June, and officials believe the service is currently on track to cut the backlog 'considerably' by the end of the financial year.

Members of the joint coroners committee, who received an update on the service on Wednesday, were also told that the move to Swann House in Stoke is nearly complete, with the first inquests due to be held at the new venue from next week.

Inquests have been held at Stoke Town Hall since 2010, but it is no longer considered fit for purpose due to the noise from other activity within the building.

Inquests have been held at Stoke Town Hall since 2010. (LDRS)

The cost of relocation is set to be much lower than expected, with a current projected spend of £319,552, compared to the original estimate of £609,000.

Councillor Sarah Hill, a member of the committee, welcomed the reduction in the backlog and the relocation. Cllr Hill said: "I'm really pleased about the work you're doing to reduce the backlog, because of how stressful the wait can be.

"I know from personal experience when we had to wait nearly 12 months for an inquest. It's sitting with you all the time, this unfinished business that you need to know. So I'm really pleased you're doing what you can to reduce the wait."

She added: "Swann House will be a much better environment. I do worry about the parking when people come for inquests here, because Kingsway car park always seems to be full. If you're a family in a state of distress anyway, not being able to find somewhere to park will make it even worse."

One of the factors behind the growth of the inquest backlog in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire is the high number of prisons in the county.

The committee heard that prison deaths usually take much longer to deal with, as they can involve criminal investigations and other court cases, with the inquests themselves typically lasting two weeks.

As of August 1, there were nine open cases involving a death in state detention, along with 30 awaiting the outcome of a police investigation. Senior coroner Andrew Barkley said that the numbers alone did not tell the full story of the service's performance.

He said: "While quite rightly we look at figures, and we are acutely mindful of any delay, at the same time we have to provide meaningful investigations as to how someone passed away.

"It is not simply saying 'here is a cause of death', and we can get to that answer very quickly by calling one witness.

"With an elderly person in a care home – we need to look at the care records, the hydration charts – have they died due to a failure of care?

"If there are justifiable family concerns, those need to be investigated, and that takes resource and time. So it's the quality of the investigation that matters, and not just the headline figures."

The committee also heard that the coroners service is currently projected to underspend its £2.88 million budget for 2025/26 by £64,000, following a £51,000 overspend last year. The underspend relates to delays in recruitment to vacant posts.