Burial Law Reform 

 The various pieces of legislation currently in use were examined, particularly in relation to the controversial issue of the reuse of burial space. The aim was to bring forward a draft Legislative Reform Order (LRO) which could amend the Burial Act 1857 and other primary legislation in order to reform the processes governing the exhumation of human remains, the redevelopment of burial grounds and the closure of churchyards, together with some minor reforms to other areas of burial law.

 Work to take this initiative forward continued until the General Election last year and with the change of government new ministers have now reviewed the position. They conclude that with the government’s existing commitments and priorities for legislative reform in other areas, there seems little opportunity to modernise burial law in the short to medium term. Ministers have not yet reached a decision on the associated question of whether to take forward proposals to re-use old graves, but the matter remains under consideration. A number of individual local authorities have reported an interest and some London cemeteries are able to re-use under local legislation.