Religious Crematoriums

Tuesday 16th September 2025 Westminster Hall

15:59

[Susan Murray (Mid Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the provision of religious crematoria.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I am grateful to have secured this important debate on the provision of religious crematoriums and the access issues faced by faith communities across our country.

At its heart, this debate is about dignity, respect and equality. How we support families at the end of life is a test of our society’s values. Every person, regardless of faith or background, deserves the opportunity to say farewell to their loved ones in a manner that honours traditions and beliefs. For many, cremation or burial may seem a straightforward matter, an administrative process supported by local authorities and funeral providers. Yet for a significant section of our population, and particularly those from minority faiths, the reality is far more complex. Limited provision, a lack of awareness, and regulatory barriers too often mean that families are left distressed and unsupported at the moment when they most need compassion.

I want to begin with the provision of crematoriums. There are more than 300 crematoriums across the United Kingdom, but the vast majority operate on a standardised model that does not reflect the full diversity of religious practice. For many communities, including Hindu and Buddhist communities, religious tradition often requires that cremation be accompanied by specific rites—including chanting, prayers and periods of meditation before the cremation itself—yet many crematoriums impose strict time limits, restrict the length of services or fail to provide space for those rituals to take place with the dignity they deserve. Families are therefore required to adapt their practices, often in ways that feel at odds with centuries of teaching. That adaptation is accepted by some. For others, it leaves a sense that their most sacred rituals are being denied.

This is not a question of faith; it is about fairness and equality. We must not have a situation in which some families can conduct funerals according to their beliefs with ease, while others must travel hundreds of miles, negotiate with reluctant providers or compromise on their most cherished traditions.

That inequality is compounded by financial barriers. In many parts of the UK, families seeking more accommodating crematoriums find themselves reliant on private providers. The cost of travelling, combined with higher fees, makes it impossible for many to access the services they need. For some, this results in long delays or fragmented ceremonies, which add to the distress of bereavement. Local authorities are, of course, under immense financial pressure, but the Equality Act 2010 places clear duties on public bodies. They must have due regard to the needs of religious communities under the public sector equality duty. Inadequate provision risks indirect discrimination against minority faiths, undermining the principle of equal treatment before the law.

There are some examples of progress. At Great Glen crematorium in Leicestershire, a dedicated Hindu shrine has been installed to support ritual practice. Leicester city council’s burial space strategy recognises the growing demand from Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities for more suitable provision.

Alongside cremation, I want to address burial. For Muslim families and Jewish families, religious teaching requires that a body be buried as soon as possible—within 24 hours of death. That is not a matter of preference; it is a religious obligation. Reading borough council took the local Muslim community’s needs into account when updating its cemetery regulations, but the truth is that good practice remains the exception, not the rule.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. As she knows, I chair the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief. We speak out for those of Christian faith, of other faiths and of no faith, because we believe that everyone should be treated equally. Does the hon. Lady agree it is vital that we enable people of all faiths to access facilities to ensure that their loved ones’ wishes for their burial or cremation are respected, and even more so when it comes to the expression of that person’s faith and deeply held belief?

[Susan Murray]

I completely agree with that principle, but our systems are not always designed with it in mind. Delays in death certification, the coronial process and registration services frequently mean that families are unable to bury their loved ones within the required timescale. Some local authorities have taken steps to improve responsiveness by offering out-of-hours registration services. Those efforts show that, with the right planning and partnership, it is possible to respect religious obligations around timely burial, but provision remains patchy across the country and too often families are left facing painful delays at a time of grief. In 21st-century Britain, it is not unreasonable to ask that every family should be confident that their loved one can be buried according to their faith.

I understand that it is important to recognise the devolved aspect of this matter. In Scotland, the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 provides a modern legislative framework with greater recognition of religious needs. In Wales and Northern Ireland, responsibility also lies with the devolved Administrations, but in England the responsibility rests with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

At UK level, Parliament remains responsible for equalities law and for setting the broader standards of fairness and human rights that underpin our system. That means the Government cannot simply say that crematoriums are a local issue. There is a role for national leadership. All communities across the UK are entitled to expect that their needs will not be ignored because they are in a local minority. Minimum standards, guidance and funding support are all tools available to the Government to ensure fairness across the country.

Constituents and communities have raised this issue for many years. Hindu and Sikh organisations have petitioned successive Governments to highlight the lack of appropriate crematoriums. Muslim representatives have repeatedly drawn attention to the difficulties caused by delays in burial, which has also been highlighted by Jewish representatives. Behind every one of those campaigns is a grieving family—real people facing unnecessary distress because our systems are not flexible enough to accommodate their faith.

The basic concept is simple: public services must reflect the diversity of the people they serve. That is not a question of favouring one group over another, but of recognising that equality sometimes requires accommodation. A one-size-fits-all approach, designed for the majority, inevitably excludes minorities, and that is not good enough in modern Britain.

I therefore ask the Minister to commit to three steps. The first is to review the provision of religiously appropriate crematoriums across Britain, to identify gaps and to work with local authorities to close them. The second is to work with the relevant authorities to ensure that coroner and registration services are able to respond to the urgent burial needs of certain faiths with clear national guidance. The third step is to ensure that the equality duty is properly considered in all planning and funding decisions relating to crematoriums and burial services, so that minority communities are not excluded.

How we treat people at the end of life reflects who we are as a society. A society that truly respects diversity and equality is one that values every community, however small, and ensures that they can say farewell to their loved ones in accordance with their beliefs. Families in grief should not face barriers, compromises or indignities. They should find public services that meet them with understanding, respect and compassion.

16:10

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Alison McGovern)]

It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire (Susan Murray) for securing today’s important debate. It was so good to hear her speak of the importance of the diversity of faiths in our country. As she says, all parts of government must consider properly their duties under the Equality Act.

I begin by acknowledging the unique needs of faith and belief communities regarding burial and cremation practices. As the hon. Member just said, each of us deserves dignity in death. Cremation offers a dignified way to say goodbye to a loved one by providing a respectful, professional and compassionate process for the deceased and their grieving family and friends.

Cremation has become the majority choice for funerals. According to the Cremation Society, cremation accounts for 80% of funerals in the United Kingdom, compared with about 35% in the 1960s. As cremations become more common, it is imperative that there are high-quality crematoriums that fully respect the cultural and religious traditions of all faiths and beliefs, as well as those, like me, of no faith at all. It is with that in mind that service providers should be expected to take into full consideration the sacred funeral rites and specific rituals of our diverse communities, particularly Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, as well as those of other religious backgrounds.

Although the Ministry of Justice is responsible for law and policy relating to cremation, the Government do not have direct operational responsibility for the provision of cremation services, which, as the hon. Member rightly pointed out, are provided by local authorities or, in some cases, private companies. As such, the UK Government are not directly involved with operational issues such as the provision of facilities or multilingual support in crematoriums, which remain a matter for individual cremation authorities. There is no central funding available for the building of crematoriums.

However, cremations must be conducted in accordance with the legislative framework set out in the Cremation Act 1902 and the Cremation (England and Wales) Regulations 2008. The Act defines what constitutes a crematorium and includes siting restrictions, such as minimum required distances from residential dwellings and public highways, or other planning considerations. As I am sure hon. Members will appreciate, sites must also meet environmental and planning requirements before any crematoriums can be built.

I am aware of the consultation carried out in 2016 under the previous Administration, and the then Government’s response covered some of the issues that we are discussing today. The consultation identified a number of issues with crematoriums. These included the inappropriate use of religious iconography, the lack of car parking spaces and a perceived lack of awareness of the specific needs of faith groups, as the hon. Member pointed out.

The previous Government’s response, published in 2019, highlighted the need to recognise that different cultures and faiths have particular needs, and that service providers, including local authorities, should take all reasonable steps to allow those specific needs to be met. The Minister for Faith at the time wrote to all local authorities in England to inform them of this.

Finally, I want to touch on the work of the Law Commission, and to respond to the points that the hon. Member made. The Law Commission is currently undertaking further work on this issue. Its project, “Burial, cremation and new funerary methods”, seeks to create a future-proof legal framework to address what happens to our bodies after we die, and to make recommendations that will provide modern, certain and consistent regulation across different funerary methods. As part of that, the Law Commission is considering issues pertaining to the different cultural and religious needs of faith groups. In my opinion, that ought to be a response in part to the points the hon. Member made.

The hon. Member asked me to consider a review of provision, to work with local authorities to respond to need, and to make sure that equality duty considerations are taken on board. I am not the Minister for Faith, who is currently in a Bill Committee, but I will relay to her the points that have been conveyed in this debate and suggest that she reaches out to discuss those points with the hon. Member in the context of that Law Commission review. At some point, there will undoubtedly be a full response to the review.

In my ongoing work with local authorities, I am sure that I will also have the opportunity to flag some of the issues that the hon. Member raised. I consider it very important that we all take our duties under the Equality Act very seriously. The burial and cremation strand of the Law Commission’s work began last year, the consultation closed in January, and I understand that it anticipates publishing its report on this strand of the project by the end of 2025. I am sure the Law Commission would welcome representations from the hon. Member.

I feel there are significant issues here, and I am sure that, between ministerial teams and concerned Members, we can make progress. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire for raising this issue.

Question put and agreed to.

16:17

Sitting suspended.