a day ago
Government urged to introduce ‘statutory' regulations
The David Fuller inquiry has found Government 'must' introduce statutory regulations to protect the 'security and dignity' of people after death.
The current regulatory system is 'piecemeal' and there are no organisations that focus solely on protecting the dignity of the deceased, the inquiry has found.
In total, the inquiry, chaired by Sir Jonathan Michael, has made 75 key recommendations to address arrangements in England for the care of people after death.
The inquiry was opened after necrophiliac killer David Fuller abused at least 100 deceased women and girls over a 15 year period without being detected.
On Tuesday, Sir Jonathan announced that with the current arrangements, crimes like Fuller's could happen again because existing regulatory bodies do not ensure the 'security and dignity' of the deceased.
The inquiry has found: 'There is no regulator or regulatory or oversight framework with the overriding objective of protecting the security and dignity of the deceased.'
It added: 'The current system of regulation and oversight is partial, piecemeal and not universally mandated in its application to the issues examined by the inquiry.'
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) have jurisdiction over post-mortem examinations and laboratory work but none over body stores or the funeral sector.
This, the inquiry explained, is because the HTA defines human tissue as 'material that has come from a human body' rather than the body itself.
The HTA, along with other organisations such as the Care Quality Commission, United Kingdom Accreditation Service and NHS England, all have important roles around this provision, but none have the 'primary objective' of protecting the 'security and dignity' of the deceased.
The inquiry acknowledged that actions taken by these organisations in response to David Fuller are 'well-intentioned' but fail to address the underlying issues.
The report read: 'While the actions that those with a role in regulation and oversight of organisations that store deceased people have taken in response to the crimes of David Fuller and the Inquiry's Phase 1 Report are well-intentioned and welcome,
'They are unable to address the underlying issue that regulation and oversight are partial.
'They do not extend to every institution where deceased people are stored. Fundamentally, there is no regulator or system of oversight with the primary objective of protecting the security and dignity of the deceased.'
On top of this, no organisation holds specific powers to stop a funeral director from operating in the event of 'poor practice, misconduct or neglect' which fell short of a criminal standard, the inquiry found.
In 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began an investigation into oversight of activity in funeral directors' premises.
When published in December 2020, it contained a recommendation that the UK government establish an inspection regime to help curtail these issues.
On Tuesday, the inquiry noted: 'It is very disappointing that, over five years ago, the CMA made the recommendation that the government should establish an inspection and registration regime for the funeral industry and yet, to date, no decisive action has been taken to implement this recommendation and address the manifest weaknesses in the sector.'
