Burial Provision in England and Wales

Lord Bishop of Chichester Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

I am very sorry to hear of the experience of the noble Baroness. That story draws attention to exactly why the Law Commission looked at this area in the first place. Our laws concerning how burial is governed are a patchwork; they are often inconsistent with each other, they are very difficult to understand and sometimes they do not appear to be entirely logical. That is why the Law Commission is proposing that they are all brought together. As I said earlier, it is sensitive and sometimes difficult, and there are odd anomalies. Noble Lords may be aware that people can be buried in their back garden if they want to: it is not a regulated thing. We need to look at this carefully and make sure that we get it right.

[The Lord Bishop of Chichester]

The Church of England has a responsibility and common-law duty to bury all members of a parish living within its boundaries in a churchyard according to the rites of the Church of England and, if it does not have a churchyard, it is dependent on municipal provision. So we have an interest in this. One of the things this says to us is the importance to all people of faith of their rites of burial. We in the Church of England want to promote that strongly. Following the Law Commission report, would the Minister be willing to speak with the Faith and Public Life department of the Church of England to look at historic churchyards under our care and how they are preserved, at what provision currently exists within our open churchyards and how that can be sustained and monitored, and at what scope there might be for opening and consecrating new churchyards?

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to reiterate the Government’s commitment to and respect for the beliefs of all our faith communities, many of whom have very strongly held views about what is appropriate at the end of life, both how it happens and the timing of it. The answer to the question of whether I would have a meeting is, “Of course”.