That this House notes the growing concern over allegations of widespread aggressive and predatory marketing of prepaid and at need funeral and burial services targeted at the elderly and bereaved, the lack of transparency in the ownership of seemingly family run funeral parlours and in the prices charged for their services; the lack of control over the use and management of investments into prepaid funeral plans, now exceeding ??10 million and growing rapidly and over the endorsement of these products by registered charities whose subsidiary trading companies are in receipt of commissions on sales; further notes that recommendations made by the Office of Fair Trading in 1995 to curb anti-competitive practices in the supply of funeral services have yet to be acted upon; and calls on the Government to bring forward legislation without further delay to regulate the selling and management of prepaid funeral investment plans, require total transparency in the declaration and display of ownership of funeral businesses and their charges, control the commercial activities of registered charities and their trading subsidiaries in the context of their charitable status and prohibit anti-competitive and predatory trading practices through direct selling techniques, through monopoly positions, and through exclusive commercial arrangements with nursing homes, hospices and NHS hospitals bereavement services.

That this House notes the growing concern over allegations of widespread aggressive and predatory marketing of prepaid and at need funeral and burial services targeted at the elderly and bereaved, the lack of transparency in the ownership of seemingly family run funeral parlours and in the prices charged for their...

That this House notes with concern that Social Fund funeral payments are not available if the deceased person has left their body to medical science; considers this to be a penny-pinching response to an altruistic gesture of great value to the rest of the community; notes that Ms Hazel Cameron, a disabled, single parent, had to pay for the return rail fare from London to Glasgow and for the death certificate on her father to make the arrangements for the transfer of his body to a university and eventually to travel back to collect the ashes of the remains from the crematorium; deeply regrets that all the Department of Social Security could offer was a Social Fund loan; and therefore calls on the Government to extend funeral payments to relatives in the position of Ms Cameron.

That this House notes with concern that Social Fund funeral payments are not available if the deceased person has left their body to medical science; considers this to be a penny-pinching response to an altruistic gesture of great value to the rest of the community; notes that Ms Hazel Cameron,...

That this House congratulates Professor Geoffrey Woodroffe on his appointment as the first ombudsman for funeral services; welcomes the increased consumer protection which will stem from the establishment of his office; applauds the campaign of the Funeral Standards Council to improve the level of consumer protection and redress in the funeral services sector; and recognises the commitment to high professional standards made by the two founding members of the Funeral Standards Council, the Co-operative Funeral Services Association and the Funeral Planning Council. (Relevant registered interest declared).

That this House congratulates Professor Geoffrey Woodroffe on his appointment as the first ombudsman for funeral services; welcomes the increased consumer protection which will stem from the establishment of his office; applauds the campaign of the Funeral Standards Council to improve the level of consumer protection and redress in the...

That this House calls on the Home Secretary to explain why senior police officers attended the funeral of Sergeant Carol who killed himself with a gun when they knew or could have been told by their colleagues that evidence pointed unmistakably to Sergeant Carol being involved in organised crime; and hopes that in future this Sicilian practice will be discontinued.

That this House calls on the Home Secretary to explain why senior police officers attended the funeral of Sergeant Carol who killed himself with a gun when they knew or could have been told by their colleagues that evidence pointed unmistakably to Sergeant Carol being involved in organised crime; and...

That this House congratulates the Daily Mirror newspaper for its expose of the scandal concerning the burials of many of the nation's homeless in mass graves in numbers of up to 15 bodies at a time in thin plywood boxes; sees such Dickensian practices as being both symptomatic and symbolic of the present Government's complete lack of concern for the country's unsheltered poor; and has thereby shamed the whole of British society by its failure to act against such disgraceful practices.

That this House congratulates the Daily Mirror newspaper for its expose of the scandal concerning the burials of many of the nation's homeless in mass graves in numbers of up to 15 bodies at a time in thin plywood boxes; sees such Dickensian practices as being both symptomatic and symbolic...

That this House notes the call by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights for an investigation into the disappearance of a Kurdish journalist in South East Turkey, Faysal Dagli, who was seriously wounded during the police attack on the funeral procession of the chair of the People's Labour Party, Mr Vedat Aydin, on 10th July; further condemns the brutal police actions in Diyarbakir, following the protests at Vedat Aydins' assassination, where 200 people were wounded and 20 killed; and calls for international condemnation over the deaths, injuries, arrests and disappearances carried out by Turkish death squads in a country that aspires to European Community Membership.

That this House notes the call by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights for an investigation into the disappearance of a Kurdish journalist in South East Turkey, Faysal Dagli, who was seriously wounded during the police attack on the funeral procession of the chair of the People's Labour Party,...

That this House condemns the brutal murder by a Turkish death squad of Vedat Aydin, Chairperson of the Amed (Diyarbakir) branch of the Popular Labour Party and regards with horror the actions of the Turkish army in attacking the funeral procession on 10th July; notes that about 30,000 people attended that funeral and that the convoy of 7,000 vehicles was attacked by police on the outskirts of Diyarbakir, that special counter-insurgency teams and plainclothes police opened fire on the marchers, killing 20 and injuring 200, and that amongst the injured in this massacre were MP's Ibrahim Aksoy, Ahmet Turk and Adnan Ekmen and that amongst the 500 arrested were two Turkish journalists and five foreign journalists; considers that any state reacting in such a repressive manner can have no call on European Community membership; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to protest vigorously at these deaths and injuries.

That this House condemns the brutal murder by a Turkish death squad of Vedat Aydin, Chairperson of the Amed (Diyarbakir) branch of the Popular Labour Party and regards with horror the actions of the Turkish army in attacking the funeral procession on 10th July; notes that about 30,000 people attended...