Hull City Council Refuse Local Inquiry Into Baby Ashes Scandal
Parents whose baby's ashes were scattered without their knowledge were hoping an independent inquiry would be carried out into the matter - after one was recently held in Shrewsbury.
A Hull mum who's campaigning for a local inquiry into the handling of baby's ashes says she's "devastated" to learn one won't go ahead.
The ashes of Tina Trowhill's stillborn son, William, were scattered without her knowledge back in 1994.
She's asked Hull City Council to carry out an independent investigation into the issue after an inquiry was recently carried out into a similar scandal in Shrewsbury.
But that's something the local authority has now rejected.
Tina says it's not the end of her campaign. She told Viking FM:
"Parents need answers as to what went wrong originally and why it happened, along with the reassurance that this would never happen again rather than information being witheld from us all of the time.
"We are not going to leave it here, I'm hoping I can have a discussion with Hull North MP Diana Johnson after a debate in Parliament - which is looking at infant cremation throughout the country because there's more and more cities coming up where this has happened. There has clearly been bad practice at quite a lot of crematoria and I am not happy to just leave this, we will take it further.
"I'm absolutelty devastated; the parents that have come forward, it's like saying to them that they're not important the fact that their baby's ashes were not returned to them, it doesn't mean anything is what is clearly being said by the council. They don't even see the point in holding another meeting."
Tina says she hopes last night's Parliamentary debate into the baby ashes scandal can also help her campaign:
"Because it has come up throughout the country that lots of parents have been affected by this, it was picked for a debate and it is quite good timing because we met with the Justice Minister last week so hopefully this will be fresh in her mind. One of the things she did say is that she wanted to see things happen sooner rather than later and we will be taking some further action."
Hull City Council say although they don't plan on carrying out a local inquiry into the matter - they do support moves for all crematoriums to have national inspectors.
A council spokesperson said:
"We fully support Diana Johnson MP's call for a national inquiry and the need for a consistency in all crematoria across the country.
"There have now been three reports into the way in which ashes are recovered from crematoria, all of which call for a consistent approach to the issue of baby ashes.
"A committee, reporting to ministers, has now been established in Scotland. We believe that such a committee should also be established for England and Wales in order to learn from the inquiries that have already taken place, take new evidence and determine a Code of Practice for all Crematoria.
"This would help to reassure bereaved families that, no matter where their loved one is cremated, that there is a consistency in how the ashes are dealt with.
"At such a distressing time for families and on such a sensitive matter, people need confidence that their loved one's ashes will be cared for in an appropriate way throughout the process."