Families impacted by A Milne ‘misconduct’ would welcome license for funeral directors

A family impacted by the "misconduct" of a Glasgow funeral director has said stricter controls on who can open a parlour would be welcomed.

A Milne Funeral Director in Springburn is currently subject to a police investigation for alleged mismanagement of human remains and financial misconduct, after families reported missing or incorrect ashes.

Klair Sloss is one of them – she told Clyde 1 that the company failed her embalm her uncle David Breslin’s body, despite the wishes of her family.

Her family paid £3,850 to the firm for the embalmment and a Catholic cremation at Cardross.

After realising his body had not been embalmed and was succumbing to the aftereffects of death, Klair and her family decided to have the service taken over by different funeral directors.

She said A Milne only returned half of the sum which was initially paid.

Current regulations

Currently in Scotland, any person can open funeral directors the same way as you can start any independent business.

However, following a consultation in late 2023, ministers agreed that a scheme requiring start-ups to obtain a license would be implemented.

The process of introducing a license does not have a timeframe yet.

Similarly, the Scottish Government’s Funeral Director Code of Practice was approved in January 2024 and is intended to come into force on 1 March 2025, giving funeral directors a grace period during which they can ‘get up to Code’.

Once it is in force, all funeral directors in Scotland, including those who are opening new businesses, will be required to comply with it.

The Code introduces minimum standards of care for the deceased, aims to establish and promote a common understanding of good practice, and in doing so, help increase transparency of choice of goods and services to help people in Scotland make informed decisions.

In future, it will be key to underpinning the statutory inspection of funeral directors in Scotland.

It aims to safeguard against malpractice and help promote continual improvement in the sector, contributing to greater public trust and confidence in the services that funeral directors provide.

'We're meant to trust these people'

Klair said the measures are a good idea, after what her family has experienced.

She said: “We're meant to trust these people to look after our loved ones.

“Betrayed is not a strong enough word to describe how we feel.

“It makes you question everything, even past funerals and things that they have done for us.

“Where does this end? Where did it begin? How do we know that we've got our correct family members in their correct graves? How do we know that they've got their belongings?

“It raises the question and makes you doubt absolutely everything. If you can't trust a funeral director, who are you meant to trust?

“There should definitely be some form of system.

“I think you'll find locally a lot of families will be very hesitant to have funeral plans or go with different funeral directors because the trust has been broken.

“I do think that these things should be regulated and checks done.”

'Inquiries at early stage'

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “An investigation is ongoing into to the conduct of a former funeral company that had branches in Glasgow and Dumbarton with regard to the storage/return of cremated remains and allegations of financial misconduct.

“Inquiries are at an early stage.”

A spokesperson for the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) said: “The firm appears to have stopped corresponding with us, however, they have been formally notified that they will be considered by the NAFD disciplinary committee at a meeting in May, where the ultimate sanction we have at our disposal is removal from membership.”

A Milne Funeral Directors has been approached for comment.

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