The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2016. With this a Draft Code of Practice was produced in 2019 outlining the standards that funeral directors in Scotland would be inspected against once the industry inspectorate was established.

The Scottish government are in the process of setting up the Funeral Sector Inspectorate and developing the licensing scheme for funeral directors.  They are asking Scottish funeral directors, and all others working in the funeral sector in Scotland, to share their details so they can be added to their list of interested parties and be updated with latest news.

How the inspectorate will be run is being shaped by Robert Swanson QPM and Professor Gordon Findlater with additional inspectors being appointed imminently.

Joe FitzPatrick, former Scottish Government Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, said: “The creation of an inspectorate and the appointment of inspectors are important milestones in the ongoing development of a regulatory regime for the funeral industry and improving standards across Scotland.

“Doing so also fulfils the recommendations by the National Cremation Investigation, led by Dame Elish Angiolini, and by Lord Bonomy’s Infant Cremation Commission.”