Hansard

I thank the Health and Sport Committee, the Local Government and Regeneration Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee for their detailed consideration of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill and for supporting its general provisions. I have written to each committee to respond to their recommendations. I want to use this opportunity to explain how I have responded to some of those recommendations and to impress upon members the value of the bill.

The Local Government and Regeneration Committee suggested that the bill lacks ambition. I disagree with that view. The bill is an important one that will make valuable and much-needed improvements to the way in which burial and cremation are carried out in Scotland. The current legislation is over 100 years old—indeed, the current burial legislation dates back to 1855—and it strains to meet current expectations.

Few of us wish to think about the subject matters that the bill deals with, but they affect all of us at some point. When we need to arrange a funeral, it is essential that processes are easy to understand, consistent and reliable, and we need to know that our loved ones will be treated respectfully and with dignity. The current system does not ensure that that is necessarily the case, and the bill will rectify that.

There are a number of problems with the current system. There is a lack of consistency in some important processes, and those processes can be complicated and difficult to understand at the best of times, let alone when dealing with the loss of a loved one. There can also be a lack of clear information given to the person who is making the funeral arrangements. Lord Bonomy’s infant cremation commission identified all too clearly the potential impact of these problems. The steps that are taken in the bill will help to ensure that such failings can never occur again.

The Health and Sport Committee’s report made a number of recommendations to further improve the processes that are set out in the bill, and I thank the committee for the rigour with which it has considered the bill. In my response to the committee, I confirmed that I will accept many of its recommendations, and I believe that the bill will be stronger for that.

In setting out what will happen after a pregnancy loss, the bill ensures that the woman who has experienced the loss is at the centre of the decision-making process. I intend to lodge stage 2 amendments to further support an even more person-centred approach to deciding what should be done with the remains of a pregnancy loss. That will ensure that no woman is ever rushed into making a decision and will provide extra flexibility where a woman needs more time to decide what she wants to happen.

I will also lodge amendments to improve the process following a post-24-weeks termination. Although such situations are relatively rare, it is important that there is a consistent approach in which a woman is given clear options and is supported to make a decision that is right for her. I will also lodge amendments to protect the woman’s medical confidentiality in that situation.

The Local Government and Regeneration Committee expressed concerns about the bill’s lack of provision regarding the siting of crematoriums. Many people who gave evidence to the committee believed that the bill should replicate the existing minimum distance provision in the Cremation Act 1902, which prevents a crematorium from being built within 200 yards of a house without the consent of the householder. I do not believe that including such a provision in the bill is necessary.

The location of new crematoriums, as well as other developments close to existing crematoriums, is rightly a matter for the planning system. Matters to do with emissions from crematoriums are regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Those two regimes provide appropriate levels of control over the location and operation of crematoriums. An additional distance restriction set out in the bill would have no function that is not already provided for by one or other of those regimes. I therefore do not believe that there is any particular benefit to the inclusion of a minimum distance in the bill.

In my response to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, I indicated that I have accepted many of its recommendations. In particular, the committee was keen that the bill itself said more about what might be done with ashes, rather than leaving that to secondary legislation. I accept the committee’s view about the importance of that, and I intend to lodge amendments to strengthen the bill’s position on what crematoriums and funeral directors may do with ashes, particularly where they have not been collected by the family as arranged.

The committee also raised concerns about setting out particular offences in secondary legislation. I have reviewed that approach and I am able to confirm that I will bring forward a number of amendments to remove offences that would have been set out in regulations. However, I believe that in some instances the approach remains appropriate.

All three committees commented on the approach to the inspection regime that is set out in the bill, as well as the potential licensing of funeral directors. The bill sets out significant detail about inspection and the role of inspectors. That includes inspectors’ duties, sanctions against poor practice or breaches of regulations, reporting arrangements and accountability.

I intend to lodge an amendment that will help to clarify the inspection function further on the face of the bill, but it is right that the framework for inspection is set out in the bill while the detail of the day-to-day operation of the scheme remains for secondary legislation. The bill places ministers under an obligation to consult stakeholders before making regulations about inspections, and those regulations are in turn required to be approved by the Scottish Parliament, using the affirmative procedure.

There was also a collective view that more details of the proposed licensing scheme for funeral directors should be set out in the bill. I do not think that that would be the right approach. The bill sets out the key principles of a licensing scheme, including that a funeral director will require a licence to operate, if a licensing scheme is indeed established. Details of the operation of the scheme will be prescribed in regulations, and the bill sets out what such regulations may cover.

At the moment, there is not enough evidence about the industry as a whole to say with certainty that licensing is required or what form a licensing scheme would take. Although we have heard accounts of poor practice by funeral directors, I believe that most companies provide a good service. Nonetheless, I am keen that standards are improved throughout the industry and that meaningful sanctions can be taken in response to poor service and bad practice. That is why I intend to use inspectors appointed under the bill to review the industry and make recommendations about the need for licensing and how licensing could most effectively operate. Although that may delay the implementation of a licensing scheme, I believe that that is the way to ensure an effective licensing scheme that will support consistent high standards across the industry.

I look forward to hearing the contributions of members.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill.