Funeral Industry News

Scottish Government Introduces New Hydrolysis Regulations Under the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016

December 3, 2025 by funeral-industry-news No Comments | Category Uncategorized

The Scottish Government laid the Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 1) Regulations 2026 and the Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 in the Scottish Parliament on 3 December 2025. The Regulations will enable hydrolysis to be offered as an option for people interested in alternatives to burial or cremation in Scotland.

The No. 1 Regulations focus on the amendments to the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”), extending the 2016 Act to hydrolysis.

The No. 2 Regulations are very similar to the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 2019 and set out the procedures to be followed. The schedules contain the statutory application forms and registers.

If approved by the Scottish Parliament these Regulations will come into force on 2 March 2026.

The full draft Regulations are now available to view on legislation.gov.uk at:

The Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 1) Regulations 2026

The Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2026

We encourage all burial authorities, cremation authorities and funeral directors to review the draft Regulations. The timetable for evidence sessions on the draft regulations will be set by the Scottish Parliament.

For further information or if you have any questions please contact our team at burialandcremation@gov.scot.

Comments