Homicides Unsolved

I am making a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the following questions on Unsolved Homicides to be answered.

1. How many homicides cases remain unsolved?
2. How many unsolved homicides are reviewed every two years?
3. How many cold case reviews has each case had?
4. How many families are informed of these reviews?
5. How long was the active investigation for each case before the investigation closed?
6. How many families have been allowed to view/access decision logs, family logs, and forensic reports if they are not suspects?
7. How many are reviewed for: a) Forensics, b) Intelligence, c) by other sources, d) What are these other sources?
8. How many families have requested a case conference since their case closed?
9. How many have had an Inquest?
10. How many years later does an Inquest take place for each case?
11. Do you have your own Cold Case Homicide investigative team?
12. If so how many are in the team?
13. How much time is given to unsolved homicide cases?
14. If no cold case investigative team exists who re-investigates these cases?

In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act our response is provided below;

1. There are 18 unsolved murders on record. 
2. All Cheshire unresolved cases are subject to a 2 year rolling periodic review by the Major Crime Review Team, (MCRT).
3. This information is not recorded as such. Each case has been reviewed on more than one occasion. (28 day reviews etc)
4. This is totally dependant on individual circumstances of each case and each review. Where the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) deems it appropriate and the family would wish it they will be told of the nature of the review and the progress made thus far. We also inform families if there is going to be any fresh press appeals.
5. Cases are never closed and where viable lines of investigation are identified by review processes, the Force Major Investigation Team is engaged to pursue them.
6. None. 
7. The MCRT have developed a prioritisation Matrix based on certain factors and each case will be reviewed with these factors in mind, e.g forensic opportunities, new intelligence etc. The intelligence can be derived from variable sources such as crime stoppers etc. We would visit and interview any new witnesses or informants, and review any new evidence/information provided. 
8. None of the families have requested a case conference. 
9. Cheshire Constabulary undetected murders range from 1953 to 2003 thus the information required can be obtained either from the public records office or the coroners office. At that time Cheshire Constabulary information systems did not contain this information. The coroners office state that it was in 2005 that Cheshire provided a coroners data base. To answer the question it is likely that in the majority of undetected murder investigations an inquest would have taken place. However, when a person is charged with murder there is no requirement for an inquest to take place. Three of the Cheshire unresolved murders meet this criteria. 
10. N/A
11. Yes
12. 4 staff - DI , DS, and two DC's.
13. This information is not recorded.
14. N/A