David Fuller inquiry: Funeral parlours need urgent regulation after ‘distressing reports of neglect’

Anyone could set themselves up as a funeral director and “keep bodies in their garage” an inquiry chair warned today, calling for urgent regulation of the funeral sector.Sir Jonathan Michael, chair of the David Fuller inquiry, says the public would be “shocked” by the lack of an independent statutory regulatory regime for funeral directors in England.He has brought forward his recommendations for the sector in light of recent “distressing reports of neglect”.He said: “It is clear to me that many people believe or assume that the sector is already regulated, and they are shocked to find this is not the case.”The fact is that anyone can set themselves up as a funeral director. They could do it from their home and keep the bodies of the deceased in their garage without anybody being able to stop them. That cannot be right.”The inquiry was set up to examine how Fuller, a maintenance supervisor, was able to commit sexual offences in the mortuaries of two hospitals in…