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P2-61

Statutory regulation of funeral directors

Fuller Inquiry · Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · Issued 15 July 2025 · Addressed to: Department of Health and Social Care

Government responseDepartment of Health and Social Care: Under consideration (Dec 2025)

DeliveryDepartment of Health and Social Care states no delivery position (Sep 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The UK government should establish an independent statutory regulatory regime for funeral directors in England as a matter of urgency in order to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased. This regime should include a licensing scheme, mandatory standards against which funeral directors should be inspected regularly, and enforcement powers.

Fuller Inquiry, Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · 15 Jul 2025 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

In September 2026, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Yvette Cooper, stated that the Department of Health and Social Care is leading cross-government work to draw up detailed proposals to drive up standards, "including proper regulation of the funeral sector" (Yvette Cooper, Sep 2026). This followed a July 2026 statement by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Preet Kaur Gill that the government would update the House as soon as practicably possible on how it intends to take the recommendations forward (Preet Kaur Gill, Jul 2026). The department previously reported in June 2026 that the recommendation remained under consideration, having earlier indicated in October 2025 that a final response would be published by summer 2026 (Dr Zubir Ahmed, Oct 2025; Department of Health and Social Care, Jun 2026).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

Government response

●Department of Health and Social Care · Under consideration · 16 Dec 2025

Words of: Department of Health and Social Care, Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report, 16 December 2025

For the remaining 21 recommendations, these remain under consideration.

Extract from: Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report

Site note: This is the Department of Health and Social Care's interim update on government progress in responding to the phase 2 report, published on 16 December 2025. It sorts the 75 recommendations into those the government has accepted in full (11), accepted in principle (43) and is still considering (21), and gives words of its own only on the 11 accepted in full. Every word is the Department's, so the rows are filed under it, including where the passage reports what another body has done.

Site note: The recommendation is addressed to the Department itself. The update gives this sentence once, under its heading "Recommendations under consideration", and lists this recommendation there among the 21 it covers. It says nothing about this recommendation alone.

Delivery

●Department of Health and Social Care states no delivery position · 1 Sep 2026

The Department of Health and Social Care is leading this work alongside the Ministry of Justice and other government departments, and will draw up detailed proposals to drive up standards, including proper regulation of the funeral sector.

From: Funeral Regulation, Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Site note: Written ministerial statement HCWS295, "Funeral Regulation", made on 1 September 2026. It names the inquiry and announces an intention to bring forward proposals; it neither accepts nor rejects any recommendation. The statement refers to "HCWS26, 15 July 2026", which is HCWS261; the reference is quoted as published.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses regulation of the funeral sector, which this recommendation asks the government to put on a statutory footing.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Department of Health and Social Care · 31 Jul 2026

The findings from Sir Jonathan Michael's independent inquiry into the actions that allowed David Fuller to commit his horrific crimes showed that we need to consider how we can ensure better standards across all settings that look after our loved ones after they die, including where some level of regulation is already in place.

From: Government takes action to crack down on rogue funeral operators

Site note: A GOV.UK news story of 31 July 2026 by the Department of Health and Social Care, published on the day Robert Bush was sentenced. The passage is the department's own text: the story also quotes the Health and Social Care Secretary, Yvette Cooper, and the Justice Minister, Alex Davies-Jones, but neither of them says these words. It carries the same announcement as HCWS295 and, like it, neither accepts nor rejects any recommendation.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses standards across the settings that care for people after they die, including those already regulated. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 61 to 66.

●Department of Health and Social Care · 15 Jul 2026

We recognise the significance of these issues and will update the House as soon as practicably possible on how we intend to take these recommendations forward.

From: Government update on Progress in responding to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report, Preet Kaur Gill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety

Site note: Written ministerial statement HCWS261, made on 15 July 2026 by the Department of Health and Social Care. It gives no per-recommendation breakdown, and it says the Government "remains committed to providing a full response to Sir Jonathan Michael's report once the leadership period for Prime Minister has concluded". That full response had not been published when these rows were recorded.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses the wider regulation of sectors outside the NHS, including the funeral sector, which the same paragraph of the statement names. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 61 to 66.

●Department of Health and Social Care · 16 Jun 2026

This recommendation is under consideration.

From: Fuller Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard

Site note: The source names this recommendation by number. The dashboard's own words are "This recommendation is under consideration." The site records that the entry states no delivery position; the department has not described the recommendation as "noted".

●Department of Health and Social Care · 27 Oct 2025

This final report recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased. The Department will publish an interim update in winter 2025 and a final response by summer 2026.

From: Human Remains (written question 81668)

Site note: A written answer of 27 October 2025 (UIN 81668) to a question about the handling of human remains. It states what the Department planned to publish and when; it takes no position on the recommendation.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses the statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased that the final report recommended. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 61 and 71.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.