Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to the Government of Spain on improving cooperation with UK authorities where a second post-mortem is unable to determine the cause of death because organs have been retained overseas.

In any given year, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides information and assistance in around 6,000 cases where a British person has died overseas. Every death is a personal tragedy, and our consular staff aim to provide practical, compassionate and timely support to those affected. We publish detailed country-specific guidance for Spain covering registering a death, the process of post-mortems and navigating local procedures. We work closely with Spanish authorities to help families navigate those processes. Where concerns are raised about systemic issues or significant delays affecting British families, we raise these with the relevant authorities and press them for improvements, including in Spain.