The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 (Prohibition on Disposal of a Body without Authorisation) Amendment Regulations 2024: business and regulatory impact assessment

3 Options

The proposed regulations consider the potential impact on authorities and businesses of the following options. Each proposal is, as it must be, applicable to a burial authority (public and private businesses), cremation authority (public and private businesses), and funeral directors (private businesses).

Option 1 – Do nothing

An option of ‘doing nothing’ or ‘no action’ was not feasible or appropriate in this instance given the potential consequences for families who may wish to bury or cremate loved ones in Scotland where their deaths are subject to coronial investigation.

Option 2 – Voluntary actions by the sector and/or guidance from Scottish Government

As the documentation required before burial or cremation in Scotland is set out in the 2015 Authorisation Regulations, only a change to that legislation through a Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) can provide a remedy. Disposal of a body without the documentation is an offence under the 1965 Act. This option is therefore not viable.

Option 3 – Statutory Regulations

This approach will allow burials or cremations to occur in Scotland where the death occurred in another UK jurisdiction but cannot be registered as it is subject to coronial investigation but the coroner has authorised release of the body for its burial or cremation.

Option 3 – Costs:

• The only financial costs will be for the staff time needed to draft and lay the statutory instrument. It will impose no additional costs on funeral directors, or burial and cremation authorities.

Option 3 benefits:

• allows for consistency of documentation accepted across the UK
• minimises delays for families seeking to bury or cremate loved ones in Scotland where the death cannot be registered because the death occurred elsewhere in the UK and is subject to coronial investigation
• will provide clarity to the funeral sector

Recommendation:

Option 3 is recommended.

This option removes a barrier to burial and cremation in Scotland for those who have died elsewhere in the UK and whose deaths are subject to coronial investigation. It ensures Scotland’s requirements for authorising burial and cremation take account of the procedures across other UK jurisdictions, and does not impact the procedures for authorising burial and cremation where the death occurred in Scotland.

Financial impacts of the 2024 amendment regulations

It does not impose any financial or resource cost on business, and will ensure they are able to offer necessary services to the bereaved.