At Musgrove Willows Coffins, we are passionate about upholding standards of excellence within the funeral sector. Recently, the national Society of Allied and Independent Funeral directors (SAIF) and the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) – two important organisations for promoting high standards within the UK funeral sector – announced a single code of practice for the UK funeral sector.
The new code of practice for the UK funeral sector
SAIF and the NAFD have come together to announce a single code of practice for the UK funeral sector. It is, in SAIF’s words, “A move that will bring consistency to funeral standards across the UK.”
SAIF and the NAFD are to adopt the code previously agreed by all funeral directors in Scotland in 2018. The code went on to become recently approved as the Scottish Government’s Funeral Director Code of Practice.
This landmark agreement, which has been approved by the national executive committees of both SAIF and the NAFD, will represent a core set of standards for the inspection and assessment of every organisations’ members. It will help standardise a certain level of quality of service across the UK funeral sector.
In early June, Musgrove Willows Coffins were proud to host and attend the 2024 SAIF South West Region Meeting. We were delighted to welcome 60 SAIF members to our farm – the best attendance the meeting has ever had. Together, we discussed the new code of practice and other important matters concerning funeral directors.
The aim of the new code of practice
The collective membership of SAIF and the NAFD represents more than 80% of funeral homes across the UK. The aim of establishing a single, common code for SAIF and the NAFD is to ensure all their members are, in SAIF’s words, “Striving for and accountable to the same high operational standards.”
Establishing this code also provides assurance to bereaved people of the type, level, and quality of service they can expect as standard from the UK funeral sector. This is a national code of practice, and it will apply to all four jurisdictions of the UK.
The new code will be known as the UK Funeral Director Code. It grants both SAIF and the NAFD the ability to tailor additional rules and best practices for their respective memberships as they see fit.
When will the new code come into effect?
SAIF and the NAFD are continuing to work out the dates for implementation of the UK Funeral Director Code, and the various stages across which this implementation will be released. Scotland’s Funeral Director Code of Practice was approved by the Scottish Parliament back in January, and will become enforceable in March 2025.
