Recommendation P2-57: Local authority review third-party contracts
From Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report, published 15 July 2025.
Recommendation
Local authorities must review all contractual arrangements and agreements with third-party providers of services that care for and transport the deceased. This must include consideration of assurance mechanisms, such as key performance indicators, regular reporting, formal contract review meetings, site visits and stakeholder feedback.
In brief (written by this site)
In an interim update on government progress published in December 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care relayed that this recommendation, addressed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding local authority reviews of third-party contracts, remained under consideration (Department of Health and Social Care response, Dec 2025). The record holds no update since the department's response of December 2025 (Department of Health and Social Care response, Dec 2025).
Sources
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.
Government response
For the remaining 21 recommendations, these remain under consideration.
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 under consideration", and lists this recommendation there among the 21 it covers. It says nothing about this recommendation alone.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been found in the sources searched (last checked 5 February 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response