Official Report 707KB pdf
Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [Draft]
Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [Draft]
The next item on our agenda is consideration of two affirmative instruments. The purpose of the burial management regulations is to make provision for the management and maintenance of burial grounds in Scotland applicable to all burial authorities, both local authority and non-local authority. The purpose of the burial and cremation inspection regulations is to provide for inspection and enforcement in the funeral sector and for any subsequent appeals in that regard.
The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instruments at its meeting on 26 November 2024 and made no recommendations. The committee will now take evidence on both instruments from the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and her supporting officials. Once our questions have been answered, we will proceed to a formal debate on both motions.
I welcome to the committee Jenny Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health; Johanna Irvine, solicitor; Katerina McNeill, team leader, burial and cremation; and Ruth Wilson, senior policy adviser. I invite the minister to make a brief opening statement.
Thank you, convener. I am delighted to join you today to discuss these regulations.
The death of a loved one can be one of the most painful experiences that many of us will ever face. To some degree, that pain is an unavoidable part of grief itself, and there is little that can lessen it in the immediate aftermath of a death. However, as many of us know only too well, there can be solace in coming together to share the pain of the loss and to say goodbye. Funerals are a profoundly important part of that process, and, by facilitating funeral services, funeral directors as well as burial or cremation authorities can also be a source of comfort when we are at our most vulnerable.
The funeral sector is entrusted to guide families through those difficult times. They care for the deceased, and they should be respectful and sensitive to the bereaved. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of those services are provided with care, compassion and kindness. However, on those occasions when standards are not met, an already distressing and profoundly difficult time can turn into a long-lasting source of distress and regret.
The regulations that the committee is considering today seek to prevent loved ones from having to face that additional distress and to protect the majority of responsible, compassionate businesses from the reputational damage that can arise when less scrupulous businesses fall short. The inspection regulations will give funeral inspectors powers in relation to inspecting relevant bodies, and both sets of regulations will put in place clear legal requirements that burial authorities will have to adhere to and be inspected against.
The funeral director code of practice already sets out requirements for funeral directors, and we propose that the code and the three sets of regulations—including the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025—will all come into force on 1 March next year. Cremation regulations have been in force since 2019. Therefore, from 1 March, there will be a comprehensive package of legislation that will maintain and build confidence across the whole funeral sector.
We have developed the regulations in close collaboration with the funeral industry and other key stakeholders, drawing on their experience and expertise to ensure that the provisions are effective, proportionate and fit for purpose. That engagement included a full consultation in 2023 on all three sets of regulations. Respondents were generally supportive and their feedback has been instrumental in the drafting process.
I am proud that Scotland is leading the way on regulating the funeral sector in the UK.
I stress again that the majority of the sector is professional, compassionate and dedicated to providing the best service possible to both the deceased and the bereaved. We are regulating because we recognise the depth of distress that is caused in the rare instances when bad practice is allowed to go unchecked. The regulations build on the previous steps that we have taken to prevent such unscrupulous practices. In approving the regulations, committee members can help to ensure that the funeral sector meets the highest standards and offers greater peace of mind to the bereaved.
Although the regulations are an important step, there is more work to do and, in particular, we are focused on taking the necessary steps to introduce the licensing of funeral directors and regulate the use of alkaline hydrolysis.
I welcome the continued engagement and close collaboration with stakeholders as we move forward, and I will be happy to answer questions from committee members.
Thank you very much, minister, for that opening statement. Committee members have some questions, and we will start with Elena Whitham.
I bring members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests as a former councillor in East Ayrshire Council.
The committee has received the report that says that the majority of people are in favour of the regulations as set out, but several local authorities raised questions and issues, so I will explore them with the minister.
One of the issues that East Lothian Council brought to the attention of the committee is the requirement to “make safe” versus “repair”. Given that the ultimate responsibility for headstones lies with the lair holder, can we explore that a little? Local authorities say that they have a backlog with regard to bringing headstones up to the required level, as set out in the instruments.
Thank you. I recognise what you are talking about in your question. I used to manage a museum that was located in a former church surrounded by gravestones and I remember the distress caused for some people when local authorities went there to ensure that the gravestones and memorials were safe. That absolutely comes under not just the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, but the Occupiers’ Liability (Scotland) Act 1960, which ensure that employees of local authorities are given the correct protections when they are at work.
The guidelines in the regulations tie into the best practice that is already happening. I recognise that some local authorities might have concerns, but additional guidance was brought in in 2019 after the tragic loss of a young boy in Glasgow. Work was done across the board to bring in local authorities and ensure that they recognised the importance of that work. Local authorities should have an established memorial safety inspection programme, and making safe should be part of their regular work anyway.
I believe that what we are asking for is proportionate. I also believe that all the appropriate people and parties have been consulted and informed about the change.
I will briefly explore the requirement to “make safe” versus “repair”. Some local authorities were questioning what that actually means. Will further guidance be offered to them in that respect? In my experience, making safe is about staking and tying the headstone so that it will not further deteriorate. Some local authorities are worried that a “repair” requirement means that they will have to undertake actual repair work to the headstones. That would normally be the responsibility of a lair holder but, obviously, some headstones are very old, so there might be nobody who has that responsibility.
Absolutely. That reflects my experience with regard to the graveyard that was around the museum that I worked in.
It is clear that South Ayrshire Council did fantastic work in response to the recent flooding of graves. It has done proportionate work to support families who were severely impacted and distressed by the flooding incident that happened there.
It is very much the case that local authorities have to look at gravestones and do the appropriate, proportionate work to them—whether that means, as you described, staking them, or looking at ones that might be of cultural or historical significance and perhaps doing more. We do not expect the regulations to change the work that councils are currently doing with regard to graveyards and gravestones.
Good morning, minister. You mentioned alkaline hydrolysis. In preparation for today’s meeting, I had one of my team do some research on newer, more ecological and environmentally friendly methods of burial and cremation. I was surprised to learn about all the different methods that are available. Newer methods such as alkaline hydrolysis, which is also known as resomation, have a reduced carbon footprint, but funeral directors might require on-going training or knowledge and skills development in order to take up those newer, more ecological methods of burial and cremation. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.
Emma Harper raises an important question about methods of cremation and burial and the decisions that people are looking to take in that regard. Wicker caskets are being used and trees are being planted as an alternative to grave sites.
Training is an important topic, and officials have been discussing it. At this point in time, there is no specific UK-wide course. We are aware of the issue, but it is important that we get the inspection regime and the regulations right. That will enable us to ensure that training is provided for our very competent and compassionate funeral directors.
In relation to water cremation, which alkaline hydrolysis is also known as, we are speaking to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to ensure that the right environmental standards are in place.
We are aware of the need for training. That issue is not specifically addressed in the regulations, but it is one that we are looking at.
The funeral directors who were consulted as part of the development of the regulations will be well aware of what they are being asked for in relation to people’s end-of-life choices.
Yes. A key part of the work that the Scottish Government has been doing is that it has been working directly with funeral directors to ensure that they have been closely involved in the process and have been able to give advice to ensure that we get the best, most rounded regulations.
I thank the minister for her comments. I want to ask about the burial management plans that are proposed in the regulations.
Recently, there has been coverage of the distress that has been caused as a result of Glasgow City Council placing adhesive stickers on gravestones that are deemed to be unsafe in cases in which there is doubt about who the owner of the lair is and how to contact them. Similarly, after a tragic incident in 2015 in which a young boy was killed by an unstable headstone in a cemetery on the south side of Glasgow, the council has increasingly taken to toppling headstones, which has caused distress not only to those who own the plots or the lairs, but to people who attend the cemetery, because a bit of an eyesore has been created, with a huge number of headstones lying flat. Victorian-era memorials have been included in that process, and although the descendants have long passed away, those memorials are of cultural or historical significance to the city.
Has consideration been given to those behaviours in the drafting of the regulations? Could expertise in conservation masonry skills and so on be recommended to local authorities by Historic Environment Scotland, whose Engine Shed is a national centre for such skills? Could local authorities be encouraged to develop conservation management plans for cemeteries, especially the older cemeteries of a Victorian character, where there is less likelihood of there being living descendants of the deceased, but which represent a significant part of the nation’s heritage?
09:45
Paul Sweeney raises some really interesting points. I was completely shocked when I saw the pictures of the gravestones in Glasgow with the stickers on them. I have referenced the museum that I worked in that was surrounded by a graveyard, and there are many other old graveyards across Argyll and Bute. In my role, having looked at the regulations, I have to admit that, when I visit graveyards in Argyll and Bute, I look at them with completely different eyes.
In order to ensure that we have very good burial regulations, we have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders—that is one of the regulations’ strengths. It is important that we recognise the cultural side, too, and inspectors are part of that. They ensure that burial authorities, which are likely to be local authorities in the main, are following the right procedures, and appropriate ones for what Paul Sweeney described as a key part of our culture in Scotland. The regulations and the inspection regime will ensure that we and the burial authorities have much better understanding and knowledge of what is appropriate.
I have a wee supplementary question about historical graveyards. I have a colleague who has 15 family members in an old graveyard in Moniaive. She learned about the regulations coming down the line and she is worried about how communication will take place with her and other members of the public who have historical links to old gravestones, for example on Victorian sites. What is the best way for information to be communicated about and to those who are responsible, whether that is the local authority or members of the public?
We are clear in the regulations that, if a local authority is looking at a specific graveyard, it needs to publicise that as best it can, whether that is through social media or in newspapers, to ensure that people know that it is likely that it will be coming to inspect the graveyard. A lot of that should already be clear in the regulations.
We move on to agenda item 3, which is the formal debate on the regulations on which we have just taken evidence. I remind the committee that officials may not speak in the debate. I invite the minister to move and speak to motions S6M-15517 and S6M-15516.
Thank you, convener. I will simply move the motions and propose that the committee recommends that the regulations be approved.
Motions moved,
That the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommends that the Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [draft] be approved.
That the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommends that the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [draft] be approved.—[Jenni Minto]
Motions agreed to.
Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 (SSI 2024/334)
The next item on our agenda is consideration of two negative instruments. The first is the Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024. The purpose of the regulations is to make provision for standardised burial application forms and information to be included in burial registers, and to set out record retention requirements.
The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the regulations at its meeting on 3 December 2024 and agreed to bring them to the Parliament’s attention on the general reporting ground in respect of the wording of regulation 3(2)(a)(v). In its report, that committee welcomed that the Scottish Government has undertaken to amend the regulations to improve the drafting of that provision at the next available opportunity. No motion to annul the regulations has been lodged.
As members have no comments on the regulations, I propose that the committee makes no recommendation in relation to them.
Members indicated agreement.
Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 (SSI 2024/352)
The second instrument is the Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024. The purpose of the amendment order is to amend the list of designated sports grounds in schedule 1 to the Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designation) (Scotland) Order 2014, which is SSI 2014/5, to reflect a promotion to and a relegation from the relevant levels of the Scottish football pyramid for the purpose of ensuring consistency of approach to the application of the alcohol and other controls and frameworks that are set out in the Criminal Law Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1995.
The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the amendment order at its meeting on 3 December 2024 and made no recommendation on it. No motion to annul the instrument has been lodged.
As members have no comments, I propose that the committee makes no recommendation on the amendment order.
Members indicated agreement.
I will suspend the meeting to allow a changeover of witnesses.
09:51 Meeting suspended.Air adhart
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