Funeral industry faces action to end 'unregulated free for all' in England

The funeral industry in England faces being regulated for the first time after a series of scandals over the handling of remains.

- Josh Halliday North of England editor

Bereaved families have called for a new investigatory body and rules on professional qualifications for a sector described by an official inquiry as an "unregulated free for all".

In Scotland, the industry is overseen by legislation and a mandatory code of practice that was introduced in March. In England however, anyone can set up a funeral business without a licence, experience, qualifications or training.

Ministers are drawing up plans for tighter curbs after the official inquiry into the double killer David Fuller, who was found to have abused more than 100 bodies in an NHS mortuary over a 12-year period.

Led by Sir Jonathan Michael, the inquiry called in July for the creation of a statutory regulatory regime to address what it said was the "systemic failure" in England to monitor those handling remains. The new rules would include a licensing scheme, enforcement powers and a mandatory inspection policy.

The directors of a funeral home in Hampshire were convicted last week after six decomposing bodies were found in a mortuary room.