Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 29 October 2025
The next continued petition is PE2084, which was lodged by Randall Graeme Kilgour Foggie. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 to allow alkaline hydrolysis, accelerated composting and other more eco-friendly methods of disposal of human cadavers. We last considered the petition on 5 March 2025, at which point we had all of that explained to us, and we agreed to write to the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government’s response states that an alkaline hydrolysis regulations working group has been established and that its first meeting took place on 3 March 2025. It is currently expected that draft regulations will be laid later in 2025, although the exact date is still to be decided. The eventual timeline will be informed by the considerations of the group and the development of the regulations.
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?