§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has yet reached a decision on the recommendation of the Report of the Committee on Death Certification and Coroners, November 1971, Command Paper No. 4810, that there should be a single certificate of disposal for both burial and cremation; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesMy predecessor informed the House on 6th August 1975 that the Government considered that a safeguard should be retained by requiring a confirmatory certificate before cremation in the case of deaths other than in hospital to be given by a doctor drawn from a panel appointed by the cremation authority, with the approval of the Home Secretary. Subsequent discussions with the interests concerned have shown widely divergent views about both this proposal and the original recommendation. I870W am considering whether any alternative arrangements can be suggested which might meet with more general approval.