Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm asks what concerns Mr Reid has about funeral directors.

Willie Reid says he could start an undertakers business tomorrow with no training and no licenses.

"All undertakers should be licensed nationally", says Mr Reid. 

Sands, external welcomes the focus on the key principles driving the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill. 

The charity is particularly pleased to see such positive legislative moves to create a clear, modern framework for the sensitive handling of the remains of babies who have died during pregnancy, are stillborn or who die soon after birth in Scotland. 

The proposals contained within the Bill for the most part will ensure that parents are treated with greater sensitivity; offered true choice and involvement in the handling of their baby's remains; simplify the process for bereaved parents and healthcare professionals alike; and ensure improved accountability across the sector.

These principles, focused as they are on the needs and wishes of bereaved parents and their families, are to be welcomed. 

The definition of ashes within the Bill as human remains including clothing, the coffin or other things (minus any metals) where a cremation has taken place is in line with the recommendations made in the Bonomy report. 

This is very significant for bereaved parents, as it matches the definition many parents have of what ashes are. 

Sands welcomes the clarity this definition provides for both parents and professionals involved in making arrangements for the sensitive disposal of remains.  

SNP MSP Dennis Robertson asks who should provide the appropriate information to bereaved parents.

Ann McMurray says it must be an experienced staff member, like senior midwives with a particular interest in bereavement. 

There is only one paid bereavement midwife in the whole of Scotland and this must be looked at, says Ms McMurray. 

Health Committee convener Duncan McNeil asks if there can be a standard form to deal with such a traumatic situation.

Mr Reid says society has changed and the forms have to be correct.

Mr Reid says when you have just lost a baby to have forms put in front of you is very difficult.

He says there should be a 48 hour or 76 hour cooling period to allow parents to look at the options available to the. 

SNP MSP Richard Lyle asks how the cremation form should be presented, should there be one or many types.

Ann McMurray says it will be the hospital that presents the forms and a variety of forms may be preferable.

Ms McMurray says it is important parents are given a choice to speak to a funeral director rather than just dealing with a hospital.

The SANDS representative says it is important the staff dealing with parents have as much information as possible to pass on to parents. 

Ann McMurray from Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity Scotland (SANDS) welcomes the registration of pre-24 week babies and that their ashes should be available in the majority of cases. 

Willie Reid says the definition of ashes has been changed and is included in the bill.

Mr Reid says there should be ashes at every stage. 

Willie Reid says there must be some form of censure to undertakers who contravene procedures in the Burial and Cremation Bill. 

He says any affected parent in the future should not have to endure the length of time he has faced.

Mr Reid says "this bill must ensure this can't and won't ever happen again".

Mr Reid says every undertaker in the land must carry out the same procedures in cremation, whether it be an adult or a baby.

He says there should be inspection of undertakers across Scotland.

A report into the cremation of babies recommended new laws and guidelines to protect bereaved families in the summer of 2014. 

The Infant Cremation Commission, chaired by Lord Bonomy, made 64 recommendations, including an urgent review of cremation practices. 

They include a statutory definition of ashes and regulation of cremation of babies of less than 24 weeks gestation. 

The Scottish government established a national investigation team to look into all the families allegations. 

Public health minister Michael Matheson told the Scottish Parliament the team would be headed by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini, who had previously led the inquiry into Mortonhall.  

Mr Reid says his big concern is that the death of a baby starts right at the beginning in a hospital.

He says his personal experience was he never spoke to anyone other than  the undertakers and everything was done via them. 

They present a form to a distressed parent.

Mr Reid says funeral directors have a big part to play in this and they don't appear in this legislation. 

Willie Reid says the political side of the baby ashes scandal was the main aspect for him as a bereaved father.

Mr Reid says he was calling for a public inquiry but Lord Bonomy's Infant Cremation Commission was called for by Alex Salmond.

There was no parent representation on that commission he says. 

Health Committee convener Duncan McNeil explains that the Burial and Cremation Bill will contain language that may be distressing to some people. 

The Health Committee begins taking evidence from parents affected by baby ashes scandal and from the charity SANDS.

Also giving evidence will be Ann McMurray from Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity Scotland (SANDS), external.  

In December 2012 bereavement charity Sands Lothian revealed that the cremated ashes of stillborn babies or infants who had died within days of birth had been buried without parents' knowledge at Mortonhall. 

This had happened for more than four decades, until a change of management the previous year, and involved hundreds of babies.

Image source, SANDS

The council-run Mortonhall had always told grieving parents there would be nothing to scatter after the cremation of their babies. 

Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death society) discovered that, despite telling parents there were no ashes, the remains of cremated babies were being secretly buried in the crematorium's garden of remembrance. 

The practice could have been going on since the facility opened in 1967 until 2011. 

Willie Reid from Bathgate lost his daughter Donna at two days old in 1988 and is chairman of the Mortonhall Action Committee.

At the time of the publication of the Angiolini report into Mortonhall, Mr Reid told the BBC Scotland news website the report had "brought up more questions than answers". 

"I was told 15 months ago that my daughter was in the garden of remembrance but the report today says they were cremating the babies overnight and then not emptying it before the next adult went in during the next day," he said. 

Image source, Reuters

"So I don't know if my daughter is in the garden of remembrance. 

"Who are these people to make life and death decisions? They have no right to play god with our babies." Mr Reid said he felt "very angry" and called for a full public inquiry. 

Cheryl Buchanan is a bereaved parent whose daughter died at 23 weeks gestation of pregnancy in 2004. 

At the beginning of 2013, Ms Buchanan found out about her daughters involvement in the media labelled "baby ashes scandal". 

Her daughter's cremation was organised by the Princess Royal in Glasgow and the Co-Operative Funeral Care. 

"I was very upset, it took a long time for me to come to terms with the fact I would have no physical reminder of my daughter." 

She and others participated with Lord Bonomys Infant Cremation Commission, The National Investigation by Dame Angiolini and she was also a parent representative on the National Infant Cremation Commission.

Image source, bbc

"We can only make changes for the future and hope that the Bill, and policy and procedure changes which have already been implemented are enough to ensure no parent in the future has to suffer as we have. 

"To experience the death of your child is difficult enough to live with but to then have the last remnant of them taken from you in disregard, and discover that it wasn't only you, but hundreds of other parents were also denied their baby's ashes, that very difficult to live with and I can only hope somehow that putting my own experiences forward, and fighting on not only my own child's behalf but for all of the affected babies, that it will help prevent it happening to anyone else."    

The Scottish government plans introduce new legislation on burials in response to baby ashes scandals. 

Proposals have been made to introduce a legal definition of ashes in a bid to prevent any future incidents like those at Mortonhall crematorium.  

Image source, bbc

The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill, external will require authorities to retain details of both burials and cremations. 

The legislation was brought forward after it emerged that staff at Mortonhall in Edinburgh had secretly buried the ashes of babies for decades without their parents' knowledge. 

Parents were told that there were no ashes left when young babies were cremated, with more than 250 families affected in what a damning report termed a "great tragedy".

Further cases were reported in Aberdeen, Fife and Glasgow.  

The Health and Sport Committee, external will shortly take evidence on the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill, external, from parents affected by the baby ashes scandal.