Edinburgh council introduce baby ashes action plan

The City of Edinburgh Council has published an action plan in response to recommendations made in a report on the baby ashes scandal at a crematorium.

Staff at Edinburgh’s Mortonhall crematorium secretly disposed of the remains of stillborn and dead newborn babies without their families’ knowledge over decades, from 1967 to 2011.

Former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini made 22 recommendations for the council and other agencies to pursue in her 600-page report which was published in April.

These included that the council should review how Mortonhall crematorium is managed, ensure the location of interment of remains is recorded in future and discuss options for memorials with parents.

The council said its working group has given “sustained and proper consideration” to each of the recommendations made by Dame Elish.

Immediate actions include discussions with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) about existing practice and permits and the introduction of an infant cremator.

There has also been an exchange of letters between the council and the Scottish Government as well as the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities and the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management.

The council plans to hold discussions with the charities SANDS and SIMBA about when the time is right to open discussions with parents about improving the landscaping and the design of a fitting memorial to their child.

The council report and action plan will be discussed at a special meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council next Thursday.

Council chief executive Sue Bruce said: “I would like to re-iterate my sincere apologies to the bereaved families for the distress they have suffered as a result of the practices at Mortonhall Crematorium. I want to thank them for their co-operation with the investigation and contributions to the report and also thank Dame Elish and her team for their hard work.

“The families should be able to take comfort from their dedicated campaigning which has resulted in our action plan and the Infant Cremation Commission report by Lord Bonomy which will lead to legislative change in Scotland to ensure nothing like this can happen again.

“I have been impressed by the willingness of all the participants, especially the parent representatives, to work together. The publication of this action plan marks a significant step forward to ensuring that the highest possible standards are adhered to at Mortonhall.

“I am pleased with the progress already made but we now need to build on that impetus to ensure the action plan is closely monitored and delivered in full. The working group will continue to closely with the Scottish Government to ensure our actions are consistent with the recommendations of Lord Bonomy.”

Other measures in the action plan include a review of staffing in bereavement services and the development and roll out of a management and leadership programme.

Dame Elish’s report found bereaved parents face a ‘lifetime of uncertainty’ over what happened to their child’s remains.

In the wake of the Mortonhall scandal other local authorities have subsequently been implicated.

Earlier this week a long-awaited report into the handling of baby ashes in Scotland made 64 recommendations.

The independent Infant Cremation Commission, chaired by former High Court judge Lord Bonomy, was set up more than a year ago to look at the practice of infant cremation in Scotland and how ashes are disposed of.

Two ‘important’ legislative changes proposed are a statutory definition of ‘ashes’ and statutory regulation of the cremation of babies of less than 24 weeks gestation.