‘Government regulation for the funeral profession has to be a priority for Andy Burnham’

It was November 1997, and the venue The Charmendean Centre in Forest Road, Worthing, as President of the Sussex Association of Funeral Directors I was proud to be hosting the annual dinner.

One of our guest speakers that night was the recently elected MP for Hove, Ivor Caplin, who would later become a government minister under Tony Blair.

Obviously having known each other over our shared love of Brighton and Hove Albion, we talked over dinner, but one of the things that I stressed to Ivor was that our profession urgently needed Government regulation, he said it was something he would certainly look into.

But nothing happened...

And nearly 29 years later last Friday Robert Bush was sentenced to 20 years for 67 offences committed against clients at his Legacy Funeral Home in Hull.

Clearly Ivor didn’t have that kind of influence, but the issue was it wasn’t just about a brief conversation across a dinner table, this was something that every credible member of the profession I love had been asking for for years.

And the one of the most horrendous aspects of this whole affair was that if Blair, or Major, before him, Brown, Cameron, May et Al, had actually done something about this, the horrific crimes in Hull might never have happened.

‘Time is a great healer’ doesn’t apply in these circumstances, every family affected by the actions of Mr Bush will have this with them for the rest of their lives.

Yet still a few days after the conclusion of this horrific chain of events anyone can still open a premises and call themselves a funeral director, yes you read that right, there are no rules, regulations or guidelines, basically in 2026 Funeral Directing is still in certain quarters not played on a level playing field.

Nothing has changed since my conversation in 1997, we still need government regulation and we urgently need it now, to stop another ‘Hull’ potentially going on somewhere else in the UK.

Every reputable funeral director in Worthing and beyond has membership of either the NAFD ( National Association of a Funeral Directors) or SAIF (Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors) both organisations are respected professional bodies and both each have memberships of well over 1,000 UK funeral companies.

This should not be confused with the direct cremation section of the market, but for any family wanting to make funeral arrangements membership of either of these organisations should be the minimum requirement families should look for.

I’ve been a member of SAIF for more than 20 years, and prior to that when I first joined Dillistones in November 1987 and later Tribes in Broadwater, both reputable local companies, who have been long-time members of the NAFD.

My grandfather, and his father before him, were also members of the NAFD, before the family firm was sold in 1979.

But to reiterate that still doesn’t stop anyone else claiming they can be a funeral director.

So what will Government regulation mean?

For the respected long-standing funeral directors the length and breadth of the country, everything.

Every company, whether they do 50 funerals a year or one of the larger groups doing 5,000, will have to adhere to the same set of regulations.

All staff, having been DBS checked, will have to adhere to recognised training programmes, staff in management positions will have to comply with suitability and capability regulations, every funeral mortuary in the UK will have to be maintained to a specific level, and be subject to regular inspection.

To stop another Hull, every person who passes away will effectively be digitally tracked from the time of death to the either a burial being carried out or the ashes being interred or returned to the relevant next of kin.

Every funeral company in the UK will have to have to apply for membership of one of the recognised professional organisations, in short you won’t be able to operate as a funeral director and look after families unless you adhere to all the rules.

Draconian?

Not really, with the exception of the digital tracking which after Hull is clearly necessary. Every firm I’ve ever worked for in nearly 40 years does things properly, just as my family who have been looking after the funerals of members of the local community for nearly 125 years. It’s just unfortunately in light of the aforementioned events something drastic has to be done to stop anything even approaching the events in Hull happening again.

Because that’s the crux, I, like many others have got a professional qualification. I’ve had it for over 35 years, I studied hard for it, and what I learnt during those studies still helps me each and every day of my working Iife, but how can can we call ourselves a profession when anyone can open up and call themselves a bona fide funeral director?

Over to you Mr Burnham……