Ministers are expected to back calls to regulate England’s funeral industry for the first time, after a series of scandals over the handling of remains.
Bereaved families have called for a new investigatory body and rules governing professional qualifications after an official inquiry declared the sector an “unregulated free for all”.
In Scotland, the industry is overseen by legislation and a mandatory code of practice introduced in March. In England, however, anyone can set up a funeral business without a licence, experience, qualifications or training.
Ministers are drawing up plans for tighter curbs after an official inquiry into the double killer David Fuller, who was found to have abused more than 100 bodies in an NHS mortuary over a 12-year period.
The inquiry, led by Sir Jonathan Michael, called earlier this year for a new statutory regulatory regime to address what it described as the “systemic failure” in England to effectively monitor those handling remains.
The new rules would include a licensing scheme, enforcement powers and a mandatory inspection policy.
Last week, the directors of a funeral home in Hampshire were convicted after six decomposing bodies were found in a mortuary room. Richard Elkin, 49, and Hayley Bell, 42, who ran Elkin and Bell Funerals in Gosport, were told they faced prison when sentenced in February after being convicted of fraud offences and preventing the decent burial of a body.
Mark Sewards, a Labour MP who has called in parliament for regulation, said it was “unbelievable” that funeral homes in England were not regulated, making the country an outlier among many western states.
“When you’ve just lost a loved one you’re in one of the most vulnerable situations in your life. In that vulnerable state you’re much more likely to agree to things and be open to exploitation,” he said.
Sewards took up the campaign after one of his constituents raised concerns about Florrie’s Army, a baby-loss support service in Leeds that has since been banned from working with the NHS.
Zoe Ward had paid Amy Upton, the owner of Florrie’s Army, to arrange a funeral service for her baby boy, Bleu, who died at three weeks from a brain haemorrhage in 2021.
Ward told the BBC that when she went to Upton’s home, she was horrified to find her son’s body in the living room, placed in a baby bouncer with cartoons playing. “I realised it were Bleu and she [Upton] says: ‘Come in, we’re watching PJ Masks.’
“There’s a cat scratcher in the corner and I can hear a dog barking and there was another [dead] baby on the sofa. It wasn’t a nice sight.”
Ministers were also urged to act after 35 bodies were discovered at the premises of Legacies Independent Funeral Directors last year.
Robert Bush, the owner, pleaded guilty in October to several counts of fraud – including handing unidentified ashes to the parents of four stillborn babies. He denies preventing a decent and lawful burial in relation to 30 people and is due to stand trial in October.
Michaela Baldwin, whose stepfather’s body was found at the Legacies parlour after the family received what they believed to be his ashes, said tighter rules must be enacted “asap for the sake of the families”.
“It’s absolutely disgraceful. There needs to be regulation on how bodies are stored and paperwork must stay with the deceased at all times,” Baldwin, 35, said.
The National Association of Funeral Directors and Co-op Funeralcare, the biggest single provider of funerals in the UK, have called for the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) – the watchdog for organisations using human tissue – to be given oversight of England’s 4,500 funeral directors.
However, this would require a significant expansion of the HTA, a non-departmental government body that employs 57 staff and carries out about 220 inspections a year.
Ministers are also considering whether local authorities could carry out inspections in a similar way to the health and safety checks on offices, shops, warehouses and restaurants.
Alex Davies-Jones, the victims minister, is expected to outline the government’s initial response to the Fuller inquiry in the coming weeks, with proposals for tighter regulations due in the summer.
A government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the grieving families affected by this awful situation. They rightly expected their loved ones to be treated with dignity and respect.
“We are committed to taking action to ensure the highest standards are always met by funeral directors, and are now considering the full range of options to improve standards.”
Quick Guide
Contact us about this story
Show
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post
If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
Illustration: Guardian Design / Rich Cousins
Thank you for your feedback.
