Funeral Director Visits: Responding to an Unregulated Business

Following disturbing coverage of the ongoing police investigation into Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, based in Hull and East Riding, the Government has been liaising closely with the two impacted local authorities (LAs) to initiate proactive steps and reassure the public. 

Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council rapidly put a plan in place to visit all 51 funeral directors across their two council areas, working closely with the trade associations SAIF (Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors) and NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors) and the police. To their credit, they have reacted and mobilised rapidly following the initial incident, producing clear principles and objectives in partnership with the trade associations and successfully visiting all funeral homes in their areas. Reassuringly, they have reported a supportive welcome from funeral directors and good practice broadly being followed throughout. 

The Government took further steps and wrote to all LAs requesting that every funeral director in the country be visited to check on the care of the deceased and provide reassurance to the public. Remarkably, however, there is no specific regulatory regime in place to support these visits and enforce standards when caring for the deceased. In fact, if you want to open a funeral directors, you can – without any entry requirement, experience or oversight – and the Legacy case has brought this to the fore and prompted debate. 

The Government is quick to make clear that its request to LAs to visit funeral homes is voluntary. The visits are not inspections (probably as there is no remit for this) and are not primarily focused on health and safety (although the Health and Safety at Work  Act covers these establishments, as does financial and trading standards legislation). The Government’s aim is to provide public reassurance that the deceased are being treated with dignity and respect and that public health is being protected. And they are relying on the goodwill of LAs and funeral homes to be successful.   

To support visiting officers, a guidance pack has been developed and distributed to LAs, following the learning from Hull and East Riding. This includes agreed joint principles for visits, funeral director ‘Champions’ in each area (trusted funeral directors ready to offer advice and support) and local SAIF and NAFD contacts to provide expert guidance. 

This has demonstrated commendable collaborative working, bringing together the MoJ, DLUHC, Financial conduct authority, SAIF and NAFD and Hull and East Riding councils. But there are some notable exceptions: there has been no mention of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) or their role in this, or the Local Government Association for each devolved administration being either involved or consulted. These are organisations that could surely provide valuable input from an environmental health perspective and offer reach and insight into LAs. 

You would imagine, and perhaps expect, that this ‘request’ from Government would be met with additional resources such as new burdens funding to support already cash-strapped LAs with limited availability of environmental health staff. The answer from Simon Hoare, Minister for Local Government, was a resounding ‘no’: he explained that he does not see this additional request as qualifying as a new burden because the visits are intended to be a one-off. According to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Funerals and Bereavement Annual Report 2020/21, there are over 7,000 funeral homes in the UK. With each visit expected to take 1.5–2hrs, LA time could reach 14,000 officer hours, time taken away from delivering other frontline services.

There has been push back from LAs and an acknowledgement from Government that they cannot force the visits to take place. However, it remains to be seen whether any LA will decline the request, which is essentially a public assurance exercise in the absence, and as a prelude to, the introduction of future legislation that could take the form of a licensing regime bringing in a fee income for LAs.    

The Government, having seemingly accepted the need for regulation (prior to the announcement of a general election on 4 July), had agreed to launch a call for evidence before the summer recess and undertake subsequent consultation. Minister Hoare reassuringly confirmed there is cross-party concurrence on this matter and the general election will not affect the regulatory scheme moving forward.    

So watch this space! Environmental health officers, trading standards teams and technical staff will be busy familiarising themselves with the funeral home business and building relationships and connections that will surely stand them in good stead if and when the sector is finally captured by dedicated legislation. Let’s hope the short-term cost to other vital services isn’t too detrimental.   

Resources 

The local authority funeral director visit guidance pack (MoJ, May 2024) is freely available to all LAs direct from the MoJ and is accessible through RIAMS Libraries. Visit RHE Training for a variety of training opportunities in specialist environmental health subjects. Join the conversation for free on RIAMS Communities.