SAIF response: Fuller Inquiry interim report

SAIF welcomes the Fuller Inquiry interim report‘s recommendation for the regulation of funeral directors in England – and agrees with Inquiry Chair Sir Jonathan Michael’s observations that most funeral directors treat the deceased with kindness, dignity and respect.

However, it is important that whatever form regulation takes, it is proportionate and does not significantly increase the cost of a funeral to the consumer.

SAIF has proposed a phased co-regulator model that will deliver a robust inspection and standards regime based on the Scottish Government’s Funeral Director Code of Practice. And it will do this without loading excessive costs on to funeral service providers and by extension the families they serve.

SAIF is ready to work constructively with the Government with the aim of delivering a model of regulation that works for all and is genuinely capable of preventing a repeat of the unacceptable events in Hull earlier this year.