Calls for speedier action on funeral regulation

An update on plans to regulate the funeral sector will be ready "before the end of the year", a government minister has said.

Health Minister Dr Zubir Ahmed was responding to calls by MPs to bring forward legislation on the "urgent and pressing issue".

An independent inquiry was set up in the wake of the conviction of necrophiliac killer David Fuller in 2022. Further calls for change were made in response to a major police investigation into Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull in 2024.

Speaking during a debate in the Commons on Monday, Conservative MP Simon Hoare said the lack of regulation "cannot continue" and legislation would "probably pass this House in a couple of weeks".

Ahmed said an inquiry was launched after Fuller filmed himself abusing a large number of deceased women and girls in hospital mortuary settings in Kent between 2005 and 2020.

Its "overarching recommendation" was that "statutory regulation should be in place to protect the security and dignity of people after death, whichever setting or institution they are in".

The minister also made reference to Hull's three MPs and their work with the families affected by the Legacy investigation.

"Many colleagues and their constituents have written to the government, rightly appalled by recent scandals that have shone a spotlight on the current arrangements and lack of regulation in the funeral sector," he told the House.

An "interim update" would be provided before the end of this year, "followed by a full response in summer 2026".

"This House has my assurance that we will continue to try to work at pace and cross-departmentally to bring dignity to the deceased," he added.

Former funeral director Robert Bush, 47, appeared at Hull Crown Court earlier this month in connection with an investigation into Legacy Independent Funeral Directors.

Humberside Police were called to the business in Hull in March 2024 following a report of "concern for the care of the deceased".

Bush pleaded guilty to 35 offences of fraud by false representation and another of fraudulently running a business, relating to the sale of funeral plans.

He denied 30 counts of preventing lawful and decent burials and one charge of stealing money from charity collection boxes.

Bush, formerly of Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire and now living in West Yorkshire, will face a trial at Sheffield Crown Court on 5 October 2026.

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