Funeral Industry News

  • 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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  • Funeral Director Code of Practice: approved by The Scottish Parliament

    20th February 2024 by

    The Scottish Government is pleased to confirm that the draft Funeral Director Code of Practice (‘the Code’) received parliamentary approval on 31 January 2024.   Please see the Scottish Government website for the approved Code.   The Minister for Public Health & Women’s Health, Jenni Minto MSP, has written to funeral directors in Scotland to...

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  • Public consultations: Reminder

    14th November 2023 by

    The Scottish Government launched a collection of public consultations on 25 August 2023 on different aspects of regulation of the funeral sector: Alkaline hydrolysis (‘water cremation’) Burial Inspection of burial, cremation and funeral directors Licensing for funeral directors.   The consultations are still available on the Scottish Government’s consultation hub, Citizen Space.   The consultations will...

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  • Consultation on Crematoria Guidance PGN (5/12)

    11th October 2023 by

    The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK Government has launched a consultation on the review of the Crematoria Guidance PGN (5/12).   This consultation seeks views on the proposed new guidance that will replace the existing crematoria guidance PG5/2(12).   This consultation will be of interest to regulatory bodies, individual...

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