Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing licensing for funeral directors.

The Government currently has no plans to introduce a licensing scheme for funeral directors.

Funeral directors are subject to existing consumer rights legislation. We believe this provides the tools necessary for tackling rogue practices in the sector. We are strengthening consumer rights as part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.

Following a market investigation into the funerals sector, the Competition and Markets Authority introduced legal obligations on funeral directors and crematorium operators in 2021 and set these out in guidance in 2023.