It's time to regulate the funeral industry.

It's time to regulate the funeral industry.

I've had very productive meetings with the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and with the largest single provider of funerals in the UK, Co-op Funeralcare.

They were both unambiguous about their support for regulation of the funeral sector. They want to change the law too.

Given both organisations' expertise in this area, I was really interested in their calls for the Human Tissue Authority to be given an expanded role as the enforcer for a set of national, statutory regulations. I will take these suggestions forward to ministers, alongside the other work I've completed on this, when I meet with them soon.

As previously confirmed, I have secured a meeting between Ministry of Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones and Cody, Liam and Zoe. This is just the first step towards introducing a new law that will properly regulate the funeral industry.

Thank you to Rachel from NAFD and to Meike, Lauren, Daniel and Alison from Co-op Funeralcare for your time. It was very clear from my visit to the Co-op's Leeds site just how much care and attention their staff give to the deceased and their families. I'm so grateful to all the staff that took the time to speak with me.