Funeral Industry News

  • Burial Regulations Guidance Published and Minor Updates Made to Burial Application Forms

    17th February 2025 by

    Guidance   The Scottish Government has today (17 February) published guidance in support of The Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 and The Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 which will come into force on 1 March 2025.   Introduction – Burial Regulations: Guidance – gov.scot   This guidance aids understanding of what the regulations...

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

    14th February 2025 by

    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...

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  • New Burial Application Forms Published on the Scottish Government Website

    11th February 2025 by

    The Scottish Government has published new burial application forms, made under The Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 (“the Applications and Register Regulations”).   These forms should be used for all applications submitted from the start of business on 1 March 2025. The new forms should not be submitted before this date. Up until the...

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

    15th November 2024 by

    The Scottish Government yesterday (14 November 2024) laid four key sets of regulations before the Scottish Parliament, marking a significant step in the implementation of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”).   If approved, these regulations will come into force on 1 March 2025, aligning with the introduction of the Funeral...

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  • Update: Cross-Border Repatriation to Scotland – 2024 Amendment Regulations

    15th October 2024 by

    Our blog of 6 September 2024, about changes to the medical examiner system in England and Wales, included a reminder that any death in another UK nation must be registered before a burial or cremation can take place in Scotland. The documents required for this are set out in the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages...

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  • Changes to Funeral Support Benefits

    18th September 2024 by

    Forthcoming regulation changes to further support bereaved people   Legislation laid in the Scottish Parliament will make improvements to the way Funeral Support Payment is delivered.   The proposed changes include providing assistance for funerals abroad in exceptional circumstances, refining the approach to deducting funds from the deceased’s estate and introducing more flexibility for funerals...

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  • Inspection of Burial, Cremation and Funeral Directors Consultation Analysis Report

    15th July 2024 by

    As you may know the Scottish Government held a collection of public consultations between 25 August – 17 November 2023 on proposals for different aspects of regulation of the funeral sector. The consultation analysis report for the inspection of burial, cremation and funeral directors is now available to view online. More information and links to...

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  • Scottish Government recruiting for funeral director interviewees (£ compensation provided)

    19th June 2024 by

    The Scottish Government’s Burial and Cremation team is working alongside Storm ID (a digital design agency) to design and develop a new website to support the implementation of funeral sector regulation, including the proposed inspection and licensing regimes. Central to this work is establishing the needs of and requirements of its future users – these...

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  • Public Consultations: Analysis Reports

    13th May 2024 by

    The Scottish Government launched a collection of public consultations on 25 August 2023 with proposals on different aspects of regulation of the funeral sector: Alkaline hydrolysis (‘water cremation’) Burial Inspection of burial, cremation and funeral directors Licensing of funeral directors. The consultations closed on Friday 17 November 2023. The consultation analysis report for burial is...

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  • Public Consultations: Analysis Reports

    26th April 2024 by

    The Scottish Government launched a collection of public consultations on 25 August 2023 with proposals on different aspects of regulation of the funeral sector: Alkaline hydrolysis (‘water cremation’) Burial Inspection of burial, cremation and funeral directors Licensing of funeral directors. The consultations closed on Friday 17 November 2023. The consultations analysis reports for Alkaline hydrolysis...

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