Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of regulation and (b) level of trade body membership of funeral service providers contracted by local authorities for provision of services that fall outside of a local authority's obligations under Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984.

The Government recognises the urgency of concerns about the funeral sector and is committed to responding at pace to ensure that the highest standards are always upheld by funeral directors and others involved in the care of people that have died.

To that end, the Government is considering the full range of options to strengthen and improve standards to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased. In this context, an interim update on progress with our response to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report was published by the Department for Health and Social Care on 16 December 2025 (Fuller inquiry: government interim update on phase 2 recommendations - GOV.UK), and we will provide a full response by summer 2026.