NAFD Lines Up More Ministerial Meetings
Following a very positive meeting with Bridget Prentice MP, the Minister responsible for Coroners’ Reform, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) is continuing to campaign on the key issues affecting the funeral sector and has now lined up meetings with Ben Bradshaw MP, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, and James Plaskitt MP, Minister at the Department for Work & Pensions with responsibility for the Social Fund.
Bill Olner MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals & Bereavement Group, and representatives of the NAFD met with Bridget Prentice MP at the Ministry of Justice on January 7 to further develop the Group’s excellent relationship with the Minister and discuss cremation regulations and reform of the coroners’ service.
The Minister advised that she expects new cremation regulations to be introduced later this year and confirmed that the Coroners’ Bill has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny and full consultation. Since it is now ready to be introduced to Parliament, she will push for its inclusion in the Government’s legislative agenda.
The meeting provided the NAFD with an opportunity to address other issues, so it expressed the funeral industry’s concerns about the practice of positive tendering for coroners’ removals and the activities of some local authorities in relation to memorial safety, in particular the topping of gravestones.
“It was gratifying that the Minister not only sympathised with our concerns regarding coroners’ contracts, but also agreed to raise the matter with the relevant Minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government to see what guidance could be issued,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.
“We also took the opportunity to offer our assistance when the Minister confirmed that the Government is in discussion with the Health & Safety Executive on memorial safety issues.”
The NAFD will have a further chance to influence the debate, since Ms Prentice closed the meeting by recognising the important role the All Party Parliamentary Funerals & Bereavement Group plays in helping develop funeral and bereavement policy and agreeing to attend a Group meeting to discuss cremation regulations and the Coroners’ Bill with Parliamentarians.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Funeral Directors is making headway on the issue of death certification. NAFD representatives will accompany Bill Olner MP to a meeting with Ben Bradshaw MP on February 19 , at which they will discuss the Department of Health’s proposed changes to death certification and the Association’s response to the Government’s recent consultation Improving the Process of Death Certification.
Having seized the opportunity for an informal discussion on Social Fund payments with James Plaskitt MP at the All Party Parliamentary Funerals & Bereavement Group’s annual lunch at the end of 2007, the NAFD has now been invited to meet with the Minister in early March to debate key points.
“This is another excellent opportunity for the Association to highlight the shortcomings of the current system, especially the problems caused by delays in obtaining a decision as to whether a family qualifies for a Social Fund payment,” adds Alan Slater.
“In particular, we will be calling for the maximum limit to be raised – as this would provide a more realistic sum to cover the funeral director’s fees and selected disbursements – and for the overall process to be improved so that funeral directors do not have to run the risk of incurring a bad debt while awaiting the DWP’s decision.”
