Fifty Hull and East Riding funeral directors have been visited in the wake of the ongoing police investigation into Legacy Independent Funeral Directors Ltd.
Public protection teams from Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council have spent three weeks speaking to funeral directors and carrying out visits to their premises to review compliance with health and safety regulations, operational procedures and care of the deceased, and to offer support and advice to businesses.
While the sector is not formally regulated, the visits were an opportunity for the public protection officers to look at a number of key areas of funeral directors’ business and provide reassurance to both customers and businesses.
Rachel Stephenson, head of public protection at Hull City Council said: “The businesses we visited were all welcoming and receptive if any advice or suggestions were made. It is very clear from our visits that the ongoing incident at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors Ltd is in no way typical of the funeral industry in our area.”
Angela Dearing, director of housing, transportation and public protection at East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “We would like to thank all the funeral businesses for their cooperation, professionalism and for their support of these visits.
“There is currently no national statutory regulation of funeral directors, so councils don’t have specific powers or responsibilities to oversee these businesses.
“Therefore, these voluntary visits were conducted in partnership with funeral directors, in order to give reassurances to customers and our local funeral directors.”
The visits were supported by the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF).
