FI15910
Request
Last year the government wrote to all councils to ask them to carry out checks of all funeral homes in their area. I understand that it was largely environmental health teams who carried out this work.
Please can you tell me:
- if the council has completed these checks
- where any concerns about specific funeral homes were identified please provide a summary of the concern and the name of the business
Response
- Yes, the council has completed these checks with the following exception - Of 11 funeral directors in the area, checks were completed on 10 establishments, in line with the Local Authority Funeral Director Visits Guidance Pack issued by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The request for access was voluntary but one funeral home refused access. The MoJ guidance recognises there are limits as to what can be done in the absence of a regulatory framework if entry is refused but suggests some potential steps that can be taken. DDC has followed the MoJ guidance regarding this matter.
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Inspections to funeral directors were undertaken in line with local authority guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice. DDC followed the guidance and focused on the 4 recommended key themes when undertaking these visits:
- Hygiene, facility conditions and capability
- Traceability and transparency
- Dignity and condition of deceased people in a funeral director’s care; and
- Pre-paid funeral plans
Of the premises inspected, none resulted in any further action by way of letters or notices and there were no issues found which required reporting to any other agency. Some points were noted in relation to the visits which can be summarised as some minor health and safety requirements (small-scale cleaning & structural repairs, requests for health and safety records e.g. LOLER certificates), some non-critical record keeping and for information relating to pre-paid funeral plans to be provided on websites.