New Cross Party Group in Northern Ireland
In light of the significant achievements of the parliamentary groups that represent the funeral and bereavement sector at Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff and, more recently, Brussels, and the fact that devolved powers have been restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the National Association of Funeral Directors is keen see a Cross Party Group at Stormont.
An NAFD delegation comprising William Millar, who is president of the NAFD Northern Ireland Area Federation, NAFD member Ian Milne and the NAFD’s chief executive officer Alan Slater got the process underway by holding a very productive meeting at Stormont with Mervyn Storey MLA.
They took the opportunity to bring to the attention of elected representatives the major contribution that funeral directors make to society in Northern Ireland and sought Mr Storey’s support for an approach to the Speaker of the Assembly with a view to establishing a Cross Party Group during the autumn session this year.
"If we are successful, the Cross Party Group will be run on similar lines to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly groups, in that it will meet on a bi-annual basis to address the funeral sector issues that fall under the remit of the Stormont Assembly," said Mr Slater.
"It is essential that the Assembly gets to hear the views of our members in the Province and we are very optimistic that we will achieve that goal."
Scottish Cross Party Group welcomes updates The Scottish Cross Party Parliamentary Group for the Funeral and Bereavement Service lobbied on a number of key issues during the last Parliamentary session and the important role it fulfils was underlined when the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP wrote to update the Group on important developments
The Cross Party Group was pleased to hear that it will be part of the consultation on the work of the Scottish Parliament’s Burial & Cremation Review Group and welcomed updates on Pandemic Flu planning and, encouragingly, the Public Health (Scotland) Bill, especially since Ms Sturgeon confirmed the Bill contains provisions that deal with precautions to be taken for those involved in the ‘preparation of the body for burial and cremation’.
"We are seeing real progress being made on the key issues and will continue to vigorously pursue the interests of the profession until we are satisfied that an acceptable outcome is achieved," said Gerard Boyle, President of the NAFD Scottish Area Federation.
New draft Charter for the Bereaved
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice has released a new draft Charter for the Bereaved which puts the needs of bereaved people at the heart of the reformed coroner system.
The new draft Charter reflects responses received from a wide range of interested parties, including the NAFD, since the Charter was first published in 2006 and aims to ensure the bereaved will receive more sensitive treatment. It sets out both the level of service they should expect and rights of redress and explains appeal rights against particular decisions taken by coroners in individual cases and
Chief improvements to the Charter include a new requirement for coroners or coroner's officers to contact families at least every three months to explain the status of a case and the reason for any delay, plus provisions to ensure that any disclosure of documents made to families is free of charge and that families will receive copies of any 'lessons learned' reports and responses to them.
The Ministry of Justice also wants to ensure families are aware they can report a death to the coroner's office themselves, if they believe a professional agency should have reported a death but has failed to do so, while the time limit for appeals against a coroner's final decision will be extended from 40 to 60 working days. The Charter will also make it clear that the Chief Coroner is likely to set separate minimum service standards in relation to specific types of death (eg, epilepsy, mesothelioma) or to certain people who have died (eg. children, military personnel).
It is understood that the Government intends to implement the Charter following the passage of the Coroners’ and Death Certification Bill, which is included in the draft legislative programme for the 2008-09 parliamentary session.
The NAFD is continuing its dialogue with the Ministry of Justice, having arranged to meet Bridget Prentice’s senior officials to discuss guidelines for the scattering of retained ashes and, through the Parliamentary Groups, is keeping up the pressure on the Department for Work & Pensions to review the level of Social Fund payments.