SAIF Golden Charter

Taking in the full picture

Recent days have seen another flurry of output by the regulators and Government departments currently poring over the funeral sector.

A new report concludes that public confidence in crematoriums in Scotland “appears to have been restored”. Since 2015, all crematoria in Scotland have maintained a 100% ash recovery rate, one of the aims of the reforms recommended by Infant Cremation Commission and the National Cremation Investigation.

SAIFInsight sought the views of leading Scottish funeral director James Morris, whose long involvement with both English and Scottish regulation allows him a privileged vantage point.

Independents should be keeping a close eye on regulatory developments long before they start being directly affected, according to James, who is Managing Director of William Purves Funeral Directors.

James is involved in developments both north and south of the border and sits on the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Funerals & Bereavement.

Speaking after the release of the Scottish Inspector of Crematoria’s new Annual Report, James explained: “My company is an Independent with branches in England and Scotland, so we have reacted to changes that haven’t yet hit most English or Welsh funeral directors. The benefit of that almost unique position is that it has focused us on the realities of regulation, ushering us into a great position to see its impact and the changes that are approaching.

“In the case of the Inspector of Crematoria’s report, it is the latest step on a journey that began back in 2012 with the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal. It shows welcome progress, reporting that the Inspector Robert Swanson has now inspected all Scottish crematoria.

“Six of the areas the Inspector reports on relate to funeral directors. It is vitally important that we as a profession are never caught unawares of work that could affect us so profoundly – there isn’t always sufficient time to only react after the event.”

As an example of the pace of change James cited the latest Competitions & Markets Authority (CMA) paper, published online on 24 August with any response required by two weeks later.

James has been keeping an eye on regulation for some time, having spoken alongside Natalie McKail, Scotland’s Inspector of Funeral Directors, at the 2017 SAIFCharter AGM. He says he has no intention of slowing down.

James said: “That latest CMA paper showed the forensic level of detail that is going into scrutinising the costs and margins of the national firms. We Independents all have to be ready to present a similar level of transparency and co-operation with the authority.

“The CMA is currently sampling independent firms and clearly wants to fully understand the sector’s cost base when defining the final rules. For our own sakes and to better support families we need to be thinking about how we would answer these questions if asked today.”

Independents are encouraged to read the latest reports online. View the Inspector’s report and the CMA working paper.