Funeral Industry News

Update on commencement of regulations on 1 March 2025 and associated work

February 14, 2025 by funeral-industry-news No Comments | Category Uncategorized

Update on availability of Website – Burial and Cremation (Inspection)(Scotland) Regulations 2025

The Burial and Cremation (Inspection)(Scotland) regulations will come into force on 1 March 2025. These regulations provide Inspectors with the powers to undertake inspections to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation and requirements and will incorporate a range of functions:

• providing a report of inspection findings,
• identifying action required to remedy compliance failings and setting reasonable timescales for doing so,
• initiating enforcement action when necessary.

The full inspection regulations can be found here: The Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025

To support the Inspectors in carrying out their duties, the Scottish Ministers have powers to prepare, maintain and publish an inspection register of known burial authorities, cremation authorities and funeral directors (including a list of their premises) which are subject to inspection.

To make registration as easy as possible, the Scottish Ministers will introduce a dedicated website, which is expected to go live on 1 April 2025. We also intend to publish the following information from the inspection register, which will be held on the website:

• the name (including any trading name) of each relevant body,
• the address of the registered or principal office including each premise relating to that relevant body, and
• information relating to inspection reports, enforcement notices and complaints made to Inspectors about relevant bodies.

As information is collected over time, it will provide a single platform for members of the public to access information about the location and compliance of relevant bodies in Scotland. We are hopeful that collecting this information centrally will make it easier for individuals to identify the rare examples of bad practice in the sector, and in so doing, offer protection for the vast majority of businesses that are doing the right thing.

From 1 April, members of the funeral sector will therefore be able to access the website and will be able to register their business. There will be no need for any action before the website goes live.

Further guidance on the registration process will be published closer to the website launch. To coincide with the launch of the website, a FAQ regarding the Inspection Regulations will also be published. Updates will be made via this blog.

Reminder – Funeral Director Code of Practice commences 1 March 2025

 Using powers set out in Section 97 of the 2016 Act, the Funeral Director Code of Practice (the Code) comes into force on 1 March 2025.

The Code was laid in draft in February 2024 so that funeral directors were able to see the final content and work towards full compliance during the 12-month grace period which was adopted.

The Code applies to all funeral directors carrying out the functions of a funeral director in Scotland regardless of where their business is based. It aims to ensure minimum standards of care of the deceased and establish and promote a common understanding of good practice in relation to care of the deceased. By doing so it will also help increase transparency of choice of goods and services to help people in Scotland to make informed decisions.

All funeral directors must comply with the requirements in the Code. It will therefore form the basis for inspections of funeral directors under the inspection regulations which come into force on 1 March 2025.

You can access the Code by following this link: Funeral Director Code of Practice – gov.scot

We would appreciate your assistance in raising awareness of the Code by printing and displaying our updated poster.

Burial & Cremation – Poster – Funeral Director CoP – 2025 – V2.0 – White

Burial & Cremation – Poster – Funeral Director CoP – 2025 – V2.0 – Blue

Update– Operation of Inspectors

The Scottish Government is in the process of recruiting new Funeral Sector Inspectors and will provide progress updates via this blog in due course.

From 1 March, the current inspector will have statutory powers as outlined above. However, as with any new process, there will be a period of learning as the Inspection Register launches and relevant bodies provide their details. The first few months following the regulations coming into force will therefore be used primarily to map the current landscape, based on information received, and to create a framework to guide how inspections should be prioritised.

During this time, inspections will be carried out where information suggests the minimum standards legally required are not being adhered to. Inspectors will be supported by a small administrative team within Scottish Government, to ensure that inspectors only need undertake work directly related to carrying out inspections.

Update– Future legislative changes

The Scottish Government is taking a phased approach towards full implementation of the Burial and Cremation 2016 Act.

The comprehensive package of legislation that will come into force from 1 March 2025, along with the Funeral Director Code of Practice, will help maintain and build confidence across the whole funeral sector. Given the significance of this package, we must allow these changes to bed in gradually. However, work will continue in the coming months to progress other key priorities, such as standing up the working group to help determine the content of draft regulations for funeral director licensing as well as establishing a working group with a focus on draft alkaline hydrolysis regulations.

We will use this blog to provide updates as work progresses and timelines emerge.

 For further information or questions about any details contained in this blog, please contact the Scottish Government at burialandcremation@gov.scot.

 

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