Local Plans (Burial Space) Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Baroness Sanderson of Welton

3rd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Mohammed. I can call him my noble friend because, until last May, he was my local councillor. I hope he achieves as much in this place as he did in mine.

[Baroness Sanderson of Welton (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley, for managing this Bill’s passage through your Lordships’ House, and all noble Lords who have contributed so constructively. How we bury our dead is a hugely important issue, but one which is too often overlooked or which people feel uncomfortable talking about. It should not be so.

Edmund Burke said that society is a partnership of the dead, the living and the unborn. It is only right that we can lay our loved ones to rest with dignity, and therefore right that local authorities make the necessary provisions for burial space. Just last month, it was reported that 17 local authorities in London will run out of space by 2040, and Camden, Hackney and Tower Hamlets already have. So, as the noble Lord says, there is a need for this timely Bill, which promises to address a gap in our planning framework to ensure that these issues are addressed. We look forward to its progress in the other place.