Recommendation P2-42: Lock fridges and freezers at all times
From Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report, published 15 July 2025.
Recommendation
Fridges and freezers containing deceased people must be locked at all times, with appropriate key security in place.
In brief (written by this site)
In July 2026, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety Preet Kaur Gill reported in a written statement that the government was "working with local authorities to support closer alignment with Human Tissue Authority standards on security, governance and audit" (Preet Kaur Gill, Jul 2026). The Department of Health and Social Care previously stated in December 2025 that the government had accepted the recommendation in principle, subject to further work to determine its full impact (Department of Health and Social Care response, Dec 2025).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Government response
The government has agreed to accept in principle 43 recommendations subject to further work to determine the full impact of these recommendations.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: This is the Department of Health and Social Care's interim update on government progress in responding to the phase 2 report, published on 16 December 2025. It sorts the 75 recommendations into those the government has accepted in full (11), accepted in principle (43) and is still considering (21), and gives words of its own only on the 11 accepted in full. Every word is the Department's, so the rows are filed under it, including where the passage reports what another body has done.
Site note: The recommendation is addressed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; the passage is the Department's account, not that body's. The update gives this sentence once, under its heading "Recommendations accepted in principle", and lists this recommendation there among the 43 it covers. It says nothing about this recommendation alone.
Delivery
Department of Health and Social Care says in progress (15 July 2026)
This includes working with local authorities to support closer alignment with Human Tissue Authority standards on security, governance and audit.
From: Government update on Progress in responding to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report, Preet Kaur Gill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety
Site note: Written ministerial statement HCWS261, made on 15 July 2026 by the Department of Health and Social Care. It gives no per-recommendation breakdown, and it says the Government "remains committed to providing a full response to Sir Jonathan Michael's report once the leadership period for Prime Minister has concluded". That full response had not been published when these rows were recorded.
Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses local authority alignment with Human Tissue Authority standards, the subject of the recommendations to local authority mortuary and body store providers. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 35 to 56.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response, delivery statement