National Federation of Cemetery Friends
Belgrave Cemetery, Leicester
images courtesy J. Tomlinson and Dorothy Marshall
 Dissenters Chapel courtesy Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery
 

 

Courtesy Friends of Glasgow NecropolisCourtesy Ford Park Cemetery TrustCourtesy Friends of Mill Road CemeteryCourtesy Friends of Woodgrange Park Cemetery

                                         
Home      BCAG Burial & Cremations Advisory Group / Memorial Safety / Burial Law Reform
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BURIAL AND CREMATIONS ADVISORY GROUP 


The Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group (BCAG) was set up in 2001 following the report on cemeteries by the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee when the serious deterioration of cemeteries in England and Wales was brought to the government’s attention through the problems of the provision and maintenance of burial space by local authorities.

The group aims to use the collective expertise of the industry and relevant voluntary and heritage organisations to provide advice and information for burial authorities, the public and the government.  It is administered by the Coroner’s Department of what is now the Ministry of Justice. To acknowledge that the remit also includes cremation the group's title has been recently changed to the Burial and Cremation Advisory Group.  The terms of reference and the membership can be found on the MoJ website. 

The NFCF is represented on the group by its secretary who contributed to the committee work, and all members had the opportunity to express their opinions in the wide-ranging consultation on burial law.

Of the published results two are of particular interest to Cemetery Friends.    Burial Law Reform      Memorial Safety


Spring 2012 Newsletter

Notes from Burial and Cremation Advisory Group
The terms of reference for the group were amended at the meeting 
Burial and Cremation Advisory Group (BCAG)
Main item was the re-use of graves issue, when the new chairman,
Judith Bernstein, reported that Ministry of Justice ministers, following
a request from the Prime Minister’s office to look for other options,
had decided this was not the right time to take it forward. Group
members worried about the shortage of burial space expressed
serious concern and disappointment and the chairman said she
would convey this to the ministers.
 
Dr Julie Rugg, Cemetery Research Group, University of York, gave
a presentation on some of the key findings from a large-scale
research project on churchyards and cemeteries in rural North
Yorkshire. The research examined the history of how the culture of
burial had changed from 1850 to the present day and looked at over
347 Churchyards, cemeteries and burial grounds. The research
highlighted how the Church of England had dealt with the increasing
demand for burial space by extending their churchyards rather than
managing grave space more effectively.


 

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A winter scene at Cleethorpes Cemetery
image courtesy Roy Saxby
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Ryde Social History Group
Image courtesy Friends of Arnos Vale
Friends of Arnos Vale 
 


 
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