Government Website: Registering a Death

Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Self-evidently that level of delay is not acceptable and should not exist. The Home Office’s responsibility in this area is for the period after the medical examiner has issued the certificate and the death certificate has been given to the registrar. That is the five-day period which we are broadly maintaining. The issues which the noble Lord has raised about paediatric support and assessments are for the Department of Health. I note what he has said and will investigate the issue and write to him. That is not an area that I am overly familiar with because it is not within my direct competence.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, certain minority faith groups, particularly the Jewish and Muslim communities, have to bury the deceased in their families as soon as possible. In Sheffield, we worked up a system where we have registrars on call to issue paperwork at weekends, but the bottleneck comes from waiting for the medical examiner to deal with it. Can the Minister speak to the group of people from Sheffield and elsewhere who are struggling with this issue and see how, across departments, we can look at opening up opportunities to bury the deceased quickly? The grave is ready and the council is ready to issue the burial certificate, but the medical examiner is causing the trouble for many families. This is not just a Sheffield issue; it is up and down the country.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am sympathetic to what the noble Lord has said. My colleague and noble friend Lady Merron has said that the Department of Health, particularly in an English context, is working sympathetically with the communities that the noble Lord has mentioned. I will reflect on what he has said. It is a strange situation whereby the Home Office has responsibility for some of the issues that the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, has raised—and I am seeking to address those and will change the system—but the issues that the noble Lord is raising are with a different department. However, my noble friend Lady Merron has heard these points and we will look at the question sympathetically.