\n<\/p>\n
Ministers are expected to back calls to regulate England\u2019s funeral industry for the first time, after a series of scandals over the handling of remains.<\/p>\n
Bereaved families have called for a new investigatory body and rules governing professional qualifications after an official inquiry declared the sector an \u201cunregulated free for all\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The inquiry, led by Sir Jonathan Michael, called earlier this year for a new statutory regulatory regime to address what it described as the \u201csystemic failure\u201d in England to effectively monitor those handling remains.<\/p>\n
The new rules would include a licensing scheme, enforcement powers and a mandatory inspection policy.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mark Sewards, a Labour MP who has called in parliament for regulation, said it was \u201cunbelievable\u201d that funeral homes in England were not regulated, making the country an outlier among many western states.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve just lost a loved one you\u2019re in one of the most vulnerable situations in your life. In that vulnerable state you\u2019re much more likely to agree to things and be open to exploitation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sewards took up the campaign after one of his constituents raised concerns about Florrie\u2019s Army, a baby-loss support service in Leeds that has since been banned from working with the NHS.<\/p>\n
Zoe Ward had paid Amy Upton, the owner of Florrie\u2019s Army, to arrange a funeral service for her baby boy, Bleu, who died at three weeks from a brain haemorrhage in 2021.<\/p>\n
Ward told the BBC that when she went to Upton\u2019s home, she was horrified to find her son\u2019s body in the living room, placed in a baby bouncer with cartoons playing. \u201cI realised it were Bleu and she [Upton] says: \u2018Come in, we\u2019re watching PJ Masks.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a cat scratcher in the corner and I can hear a dog barking and there was another [dead] baby on the sofa. It wasn\u2019t a nice sight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ministers were also urged to act after 35 bodies were discovered at the premises of Legacies Independent Funeral Directors last year.<\/p>\n
Robert Bush, the owner, pleaded guilty in October to several counts of fraud \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
Michaela Baldwin, whose stepfather\u2019s body was found at the Legacies parlour after the family received what they believed to be his ashes, said tighter rules must be enacted \u201casap for the sake of the families\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely disgraceful. There needs to be regulation on how bodies are stored and paperwork must stay with the deceased at all times,\u201d Baldwin, 35, said.<\/p>\n
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) \u2013 the watchdog for organisations using human tissue \u2013 to be given oversight of England\u2019s 4,500 funeral directors.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Alex Davies-Jones, the victims minister, is expected to outline the government\u2019s initial response to the Fuller inquiry in the coming weeks, with proposals for tighter regulations due in the summer.<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson said: \u201cOur thoughts remain with the grieving families affected by this awful situation. They rightly expected their loved ones to be treated with dignity and respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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