Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to section 2.23 of his Department's guidance entitled Burial Grounds: Guidance for Managers, which states that burial authorities may contribute towards the provision or maintenance of burial grounds in which their inhabitants may be buried, whether burial grounds in 2.23 includes churchyards.
Paragraph 2.23 of Burial Grounds: Guidance for Managers refers to section 214 of the Local Government Act 1972. Subsection 214(6) provides that a local authority burial authority may contribute towards the provision or maintenance of any cemetery in which their inhabitants are buried. For the purposes of section 214(6), the definition of “cemetery” (in subsection 214(8)) is “a burial ground or any other place for the interment of the dead (including any part of any such place set aside for the interment of a dead person’s ashes).” This would include a churchyard if it is used as a burial ground.