Streeting to 'take the lead' in funeral regulation

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the Department of Health and Social Care will be "taking the lead" in regulating the funeral industry.

It followed an 18-month campaign by families affected by the investigation into the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.

Undertaker Robert Bush will be sentenced in July after he admitted hoarding 30 bodies, half a tonne of human ashes and fraudulently running his business.

Streeting said he planned to stop "rip off providers" from taking advantage of families at their "most vulnerable and sensitive moments".

Speaking to Emma Hardy, MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice, who has been campaigning with the families, Streeting said: "The experience that your city in particular has seen underscores why this is such an important issue."

Claire Stockdale and Tristan Essex, whose grandmother's body was among those discovered on the premises, took their campaign to Downing Street in November 2024.

Claire said: "It is vital that the funeral industry is governed by clear, compassionate and enforceable rules and regulations to protect families at their most vulnerable."

Tristan added: "This [issue] should stay front and centre until this void in regulation is corrected."

Streeting said funeral regulation in England had been "all over the place" and "non-existent" in some areas.

He said: "We will be taking a lead in the Department of Health and Social Care of working across government to make sure we've got effective funeral legislation in place."

A government spokesperson added they were "committed to preventing atrocities like these from ever happening again".

"Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect after death and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected by these sickening crimes," they said.

The spokesperson revealed the government was considering ways to strengthen standards across the funeral sector and would set out the next steps in the summer.

Hardy said: "This is a really positive step forward."

Bush's crimes in Hull were not the only reason the funeral industry has been scrutinised.

In Hampshire, two undertakers were jailed for four years for preventing a lawful and decent burial, causing a public nuisance by keeping bodies in refrigerated conditions and fraudulent trading.

In Leeds, a funeral director was banned from NHS maternity wards and mortuaries after keeping babies' bodies at her home, a BBC investigation revealed.

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