Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Sewards Excerpts
Tuesday 16th December 2025

(1 day, 9 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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David Lammy Portrait Mr Lammy
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The hon. Gentleman can do better than that. That is not true. We are serious about bringing down the backlog, and that means that we of course want to introduce our courts Bill in the early part of next year.

Mark Sewards Portrait Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)
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T5.   Following a string of shocking cases in which funeral directors did not treat the bodies of the deceased with the care and respect that they deserved, will the Minister update the House on the cross-departmental work being done to regulate the funeral industry?

Alex Davies-Jones Portrait Alex Davies-Jones
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I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. It was an honour to meet him, victims and bereaved families who have been affected by this horrific situation. Our thoughts remain with those grieving families, who rightly expect their babies and the deceased to be treated with dignity and respect. That is the minimum that they deserve. We are committed to taking action. He might be aware that the Department of Health and Social Care today published its interim review into the Fuller inquiry. I look forward to reading that, and to working with him and others to ensure that the recommendations are followed.