P2-50 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

Local authority mortuary as regulated service

Recommendation

The mortuary service must be treated in the same way as other regulatory services within local authority reporting structures: The mortuary must be visible to scrutiny at the relevant statutory committee, with regular reporting. Key performance indicators must be identified and must include the results of audits of compliance with Human Tissue Authority requirements. Inspections by the Human Tissue Authority and Human Tissue Authority Reportable Incidents (HTARIs) must be reported to the relevant statutory committee, and actions to achieve compliance monitored.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the government, it accepted in principle the recommendation that local authority mortuary services should be treated as regulated services within reporting structures, with regular scrutiny and KPI reporting including Human Tissue Authority (HTA) compliance. As of December 2025, the government stated it was developing guidance on local authority mortuary governance (Government Interim Update, December 2025). No specific guidance has been published.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, questions-statements.parliament.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
England
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
01 Dec 2025

The Government has agreed to accept in principle this recommendation subject to further work to determine its full impact.

Progress Timeline
Official Report
01 Dec 2025

Accepted in principle. The government has agreed to accept in principle this recommendation subject to further work to determine the full impact. The government will continue to work on its response to the recommendations and provide a full response to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report by summer 2026. (Source: Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report, December 2025)

Source
Inquiry Fuller Inquiry
Report Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report 15 Jul 2025
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Primary
Themes & Tags
Patient dignity and privacy Care safeguarding systems Hta Governance Local Authority Committee
Recommendation age 0.7 yr
Last formal update 01 Dec 2025