Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport, has argued for the introduction of a statutory regulator for the funeral sector to be included in a Bill to modernise the NHS.
In Parliament Caroline made the case that the Government had failed to meet its target to respond to the important Fuller Inquiry’s recommendations on funeral regulation, which they said they would do in Summer 2026, as she called for her proposals to be made law.
Speaking about her amendment to the Health Bill, Caroline said:
I stood in this Chamber six months ago and told the Health Minister, who is no longer in his place, about Richard Elkin and Hayley Bell, the Gosport funeral directors who left 46 bodies in an unrefrigerated room.
He told the House the Government were "continuing to consider all options," and that a decision on regulation would come in the Government's full response to the Fuller inquiry, expected in the summer. Summer has now been and gone.
Despite cross-Party support, Caroline’s amendment was dropped just before the legislation passed through the House of Commons. Her proposal to maintain a register of funeral service providers and extend the remit of the regulator for human tissue to funeral parlours had secured the backing of 15 MPs after a dedicated campaign which saw the publication of a joint letter calling for urgent action, signed by 50 MPs.
The Government was sympathetic to Caroline’s arguments.
In the House of Commons, Health Minister Karin Smyth said:
She spoke very powerfully on behalf of the whole House. Every deceased person must be treated with care, respect, and dignity. We are undertaking urgent work to develop comprehensive proposals including formal regulation of the funeral sector to drive out rogue operators and strengthen protections for bereaved families. We will begin sharing proposals shortly.
Speaking after the Bill’s passage, Dame Caroline Dinenage said:
I welcome the Government’s commitment to stronger oversight and proper regulation of this opaque sector, and their offer to include me in discussions. We do know from experience how slowly the Government moves but we have been hearing for a while now that the prospect of regulation is on the table so it really should be a case of ‘any moment now’.
The Government needs to drive forward this work urgently to restore trust in this sector.
