Regulation of funeral homes urged in 2020

A WATCHDOG warned the government four years ago that funeral directors should be regulated, The Telegraph can reveal.

The industry is self-regulated with businesses able to choose whether to join trade bodies which then carry out regular inspections. However in December 2020, a report published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended regulation of the sector to monitor “care of the deceased”.

It recommended setting up an inspection body that would review the quality of funeral services. The Ministry of Justice responded in March 2021, and said while it agreed “in principle” that regulation was a good idea, in light of the pandemic it was not the right time “to move to wholescale regulation”.

It comes after Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, East Yorkshire, was raided by police following reports of “concern for the care of the deceased”. Humberside Police said yesterday that they had recovered 35 bodies from the premises.

Firms can voluntarily become members of two trade bodies, the National Association of Funeral Directors and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors. Legacy Independent Funeral Directors had not been a member of a trade body since at least 2021. It is thought that as many as 1,000 firms are not signed up to either body, according to an industry source.

The Ministry of Justice last night confirmed a review into the regulation of funeral directors was underway.

A spokesman said: “We are currently reviewing regulation of the funeral sector and, in the interim, we support the work of the trade bodies who have introduced self-regulation, including codes of practice designed to regulate funeral directors.”