Hull funeral directors inquiry: Calls for funeral regulation and licensing

Public petitions calling for a funeral directors' regulatory body began in 2023

An MP is leading calls for the funeral industry to be regulated after 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes were removed from a Hull company.

The bodies and ashes were taken from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road to another mortuary and the firm is being investigated by police.

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, said the industry had "no licensing or inspections in place".

The Ministry of Justice said it was reviewing funeral sector regulation.

One bereaved man, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he paid £3,500 to Legacy Independent Funeral Directors for the cremation of his partner in November 2022 and is waiting to find out from police whether his remains were among those removed from the company's Hessle Road branch.

Bodies and ashes were removed from one of Legacy's three branches in Hull

He said he was "shocked" to learn the industry was not regulated.

"There should've always been checks in place as there is with most things these days.

"You go into a food place and they're regulated aren't they?"

"Funerals are not cheap and people need to know they are being checked on."

Another woman told BBC Look North she was worried about a £2,000 funeral plan taken out by her mother with Legacy seven years ago.

"Obviously she's still around, but we don't know what will happen to that plan," she said.

"She's paid full cash for it."

The woman added: "We don't know who to contact."

In a social media post, Ms Hardy said: "Having spoken to government ministers, I am now calling for the process of bringing all funeral directors under a regulatory system to begin without delay, starting with a consultation.

"This would be the first step in ensuring that what has happened at Legacy will never be repeated".

Jodie Langsford said her heart went out to the families involved

Last year petitions calling for a funeral directors' regulatory body were launched by Jodie Langsford, from Birmingham, after a funeral company left her father's "body to decompose".

The 34-year-old said her campaign started when she went to search for a funeral ombudsman and found there was "no sort of regulation at all in the UK".

"My heart goes out to everyone in Hull and everyone who's experienced this."

The Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM), which has been calling for regulation, said many funeral directors "work to a code of conduct through industry bodies, which can include inspections for members' though it was "not compulsory".

In December 2020 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a report, which identified a number of issues including "inconsistent standards of quality of care of the deceased" and recommended the creation of "a statutory registration and inspection body to monitor" funeral director services.

The following year the MoJ published its response, in which it "agrees in principle to a form of registration and inspection" though the pandemic meant it was not the right time to "move to wholescale regulation".

Police said officers had been searching at "business premises linked to the suspects"

An MoJ spokesperson said in a statement: "In times of great personal loss every family rightly expects their loved ones are treated with dignity and respect and the government is working with the funeral sector to ensure this is the case.

"We are currently reviewing regulation of the funeral sector and, in the interim, we support the work of the trade bodies who have introduced self-regulation, including codes of practice designed to regulate funeral directors."

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) told the BBC that Legacy had resigned its membership of their organisation in 2021.

An NAFD spokesperson said: "Regulation of operational standards in the funeral sector is currently on a voluntary basis. Funeral firms that choose to join the NAFD (or fellow trade body SAIF), commit to abide by the requirements of the Funeral Director Code and open their business up to unannounced inspections. Equally, firms can choose not to take part in this voluntary regulation and can operate without scrutiny.

"We would urge the public to ask questions of any funeral director they are seeking to appoint to care for a deceased loved one, including whether they are a member of a recognised trade body. A good funeral director will communicate transparently and honestly - and will have no concerns about describing or showing you their facilities. Subject to the appropriate checks, they may be able to show you their back-of-house facilities, although we recognise that this is not something all families will wish to do."

The SAIF, another trade association representing independent funeral directors, said Legacy "is not and has never been a member of SAIF".

A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have been released on bail while police inquiries continue.

They were arrested after police received a report on 6 March regarding concerns about the "storage and management processes relating to care of the deceased".

Legacy Independent Funeral Directors has been contacted for comment.

Humberside Police said the force's dedicated helpline numbers remained open, having received more than a thousand phone calls since Friday.