Papers & Speakers

An overview of the valuation for non-domestic rating purposes of Crematoria, Cemeteries & Woodland Burial sites, and in particular the factors in the run up to the 2010 revaluation which may have an impact on value.

Graeme qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1981 after having secured a BSC Degree in Estate Management. He spent some 6 years in private practice in central London valuing shops, offices and industrial premises for rent review and loan purposes and has also been employed by a financial institution providing valuations for securities.

He has worked for the Valuation Office Agency for some eighteen years firstly in a London local office valuing shopping centres, offices and industrial estates for rating purposes and joining a Specialist Rating Unit in 2003 where he is now responsible for valuing private schools, leisure centres, Universities. hospitals and bus garages throughout London and the Home Counties.

Graeme took on the rating valuation of crematoria throughout England and Wales from his predecessor Peter Lavery in May 2008 on his retirement

The use of Formaldehyde in the death care industry has caused a great deal of concern, especially to Cremation Authorities and the search for a suitable replacement has been a long one. The question is do we now have a replacement for formaldehyde which is environmentally friendly and non-cacogenic?

Sarah is the Managing Director of dh2uk, a private healthcare group who run a multi-disciplined clinic in Eltham, south east London and a dozen outreach clinics across the UK. dh2uk import vaccines from abroad and Sarah is the qualified person holding the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Wholesaler Dealers Licenses.

Sarah has come into the bereavement business through her HMRA license and is working with colleagues to find a replacement for formaldehyde.

For many people, dealing with Government, especially when reporting changes in their lives, can require them to repeat and verify the same information to numerous departments, agencies and parts of local authorities.

Tell Us Once is a cross-government programme looking into the feasibility of people being able to inform Government just once of a birth, death or change of address. People are often at their most vulnerable at these times and especially when bereaved. These changes can directly impact on the amount and type of benefit people may receive from local or central government. Examples are Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit and State Pensions.

We are working with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and local authorities. Other partners include the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Department for Transport (DfT), Communities and Local Government (CLG), Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), Local Government Association (LGA) and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We are also working with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

During this session you will be able to find out the progress to date and the next steps, as well as hear from our customers (in a DVD) and ask questions.

Mel has worked within Local Government for 20 years, in a number of different roles. As the Service Development manager within Southwark Council she was responsible for the introduction of the Tell Us Once Pilot Service, in partnership with Central Government. She has now been seconded to the Tell Us Once Programme Team, in order to represent Local Authorities’ views and requirements

This paper brings into the light aspects of cremation in Romania. It commences with a short history of cremation in 19th-21st centuries Romania, pointing out the main moments of this practice. As regards the problem of cremation after 1989 it emphasizes six possible key moments: the echoes in Romanian society of the Vama* Operation during the Romanian anti-communist revolution from December 1989 when, at Cenuşa Crematoria in Bucharest, 43 dead bodies of people from Timişoara killed during the riots in this town were burnt; the opening of the second crematoria in Bucharest in 1994 Vitan Bârzeşti; the strike of the employers of Vitan-Bârzeşti crematorium between 3-10 of February 1997; the closing of Cenuşa Crematoria in Bucharest in 2003; the issues of lack of places for burial in Romanian urban areas and the alternative of this represented by the cremation; the "Panteonul României" project made by Romanian Academy which being realized in 2010 would mean the demolition of the Cenuşa Crematoria's building.

The paper also explains the legal status of cremation in Romania, the strong rejection of cremation by the Romanian Orthodox Church, and the reverberations of this practice in Romanian mass-media after 1989. Finally, in the author’s opinion there are very few chances for the development of cremation in Romania in the future, especially due to the Romanian Orthodox Church’s opposition and the lack of a real debate on the topic and its public utility in Romanian society of nowadays.

* The English translation of "Vama" is "Customs"

Dr Rotar’s Ph.D. Thesis was dedicated to death and dying in nineteenth century Transylvania and it represents the first Ph.D. thesis in Romanian historiography focused on such a topic. He is the author of two volumes of Death in nineteenth century Transylvania, published in 2007. He is now working on a book focused on the history of cremation in 19th-21st centuries Romania.

The thought that the grave site of a loved one is secure for the future assists many families during the grieving process. Unfortunately the interment site may become compromised due to rising ground water leading to a water logged site. Without adequate drainage facilities interment plots could be damaged.

This was the potential situation at the Surrey and Sussex Crematorium so to prevent this possibility the owners decided that a new improved land drainage system was needed. With environmental considerations uppermost the work included the provision of a water harvesting system.

This presentation discusses the practical aspects of undertaking the project on such a sensitive site, including how funerals and visitors to existing grave plots were accommodated.

Steve has spent over 26 years in the crematoria business starting with 5 years with a local authority in Somerset as an operator, chapel attendant and gardener, all of which have proved invaluable. He moved to the London area to join a private crematorium which also owned and operated a funeral directors. During the 9 years at this location he became a director of the company and remained there until its sale to SCI. He then took an area management position within SCI in the south of England and then had a 2-year spell running a pre need funeral sales operation. A management buyout was secured from SCI, and Dignity - a wholly owned UK company - was formed and he was then asked to run the Crematoria division consisting the 21 crematoria and 5 cemeteries. Dignity now has 30 crematoria and 14 cemeteries through new build, acquisition and one partnership with a local authority and is continuing to expand as we speak – never a dull day!

The reaction of the Orthodox Church of Greece to cremation and the political cost which all the political parties were afraid of were the reasons why, despite the repeated efforts, the law allowing cremation was passed only in March 2006. In March 2009 the Presidential Decree was issued and published and the issue of a ministerial decision on technical, environmental and building issues, being processed by a team of officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is pending. We believe that in 2010 the proceedings for the first crematorium in Greece will begin.

Αntonis is President of the “Committee for the Right of Cremation in Greece”, a non-profit association established on 11th November 1997. The Committee operates from his company’s office and he financially supports most of its expenses and activities. In his quest to see cremation in Greece established he met with the Executive Committee of the International Cremation Federation in Barcelona in 2000, and has participated in meetings of the European Crematoria Network in Stade, Hamburg and Milan.

Antonis studied Economics at the University of Piraeus and in 1984 established a private company dealing with publishing, stationary, promotional gifts and stands.

Safety of memorials in cemeteries and churchyards is a potentially dangerous and emotive matter. Stone-Safe has developed a revolutionary system of memorial fixing which is awaiting British Standards approval. The system comes with a 30 year guarantee and meets the stringent requirements of the insurance industry. Is this the way forward?

The Governor of Luxor, Egypt is the driving force behind massive redevelopment in his city. A key element of his vision is the exposure and promotion of an important and ancient sphinx-lined avenue that has lain buried beneath the city for centuries.

Peter Mitchell was brought in by the British Embassy in Cairo to organize and supervise the exhumation of two international Christian cemeteries to enable the building of a new bridge over the avenue. All exhumed remains were to be reinterred in a new cemetery, at that time still under construction in the desert.

After a number of years working at all levels in bereavement services (literally starting at the bottom as a gravedigger) Peter wrote the IBCA Exhumation Handbook in 1998 and diversified into exhumation by becoming General Manager of the Necropolis Company. Following the closure of the Company in late 2001, Peter went freelance as Peter Mitchell Associates and offers consultancy in the fields of burial, cremation and exhumation.

He has been involved in the exhumation of approximately 30,000 bodies in a wide range of circumstances. He project manages exhumation on any scale for a diverse range of clients. He still has the testimonial provided by the Principal of the College of Education he attended for 3 years in the 1970s and particularly likes the comment that “…he decided that his vocation lay not in working with children but in working with living things…”

Staff who are confident and competent in their interactions with clients can find themselves feeling very apprehensive when confronted by a bereaved client. For cremation and burial authorities this is a common occurrence and a caring but professional response can significantly enhance the quality of service given and reduce stress levels of staff involved.

This presentation outlines the content of bereavement training courses available and the variety of teaching methods used to ensure participants gain as much from the course as possible.

John has worked for Cruse Bereavement Care for nearly three years in total, and is currently Service and Development Manager for the organisation. He came to Cruse from a career in college training and management. Within Cruse he is a practitioner with a number of years of experience in supporting people in crisis and distress, including people who are bereaved. His current role includes responsibility for external training and projects to do with service development.

Resomation® is the new disposition alternative to cremation with environmental benefits. It was presented back at the ICBCE 2007 conference and created much positive discussion.

The process has moved on from then and Resomation Ltd would like to share the advances in design, legislation and marketing channels for Resomation.

Sandy founded Resomation Ltd in May 2007 and is currently the Managing Director. Resomation Ltd is dedicated to the promotion of the resomation process which is an alternative to cremation with environmental benefits.

Scottish of birth he has a degree in Biochemistry. Before Resomation Ltd Sandy was European President for an American Company based in Scotland involved in Biological Safety and promoting Alkaline Hydrolysis technologies in the area of animal disposition. Prior to that he worked for another American Corporation STERIS for 10 years as European Vice President of their pharmaceutical sterilisation division.

Earlier in his career Sandy worked for the American Millipore Corporation for 15 years in the area of separation and purification technologies.

The new cremation regulations will have been in operation for a full six months by the conference. During this extended session the panel, consisting of the Ministry of Justice and stakeholders directly affected by the new regulations, will review and discuss their introduction and operation. The discussion will focus on those areas where difficulties have been experienced and consider how they might be resolved if still relevant. There will also be consideration of the various guidance notes issued and the need, if any, to modify these in the light of experience.

The moderator for this session will be Harvey Thomas CBE and input from the conference audience will be encouraged.

Stakeholder Panel:

Brian Patterson, Coroners Unit, Ministry of Justice
Brian has worked for the Home Office for many years and transferred to the Department for Constitutional Affairs in June 2005. His Division became part of the Ministry of Justice in May 2007.

Dr Chris Stretton, Medical Referee, Gloucester Crematorium
Chris qualified in medicine at Birmingham 1964, and after the usual hospital jobs became a GP in Gloucester for the next 34 years. His particular interests were in the two ends of life, Obstetrics and Care of the Dying, and also Vocational Training of new GPs. He retired from general practice in 2001 but continues some part time medical work, including being the Medical Referee at Gloucester Crematorium which he has done for over 30 years. Chris has taken a keen interest in fall-out from the Shipman affair having read and responded to most of the Consultative Documents on Coroners, Cremation, and now the Certification of Deaths that have come out of various government departments.

Patrick Gallagher, President, National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors
Patrick is National President of The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, an organisation representing Independent Funeral Directors within the UK. After leaving school he worked for both Tom Robinson at Loughborough and District Funeral Service and Jack Swann at T. Swann and Sons, both of which were at that time family owned businesses. He attained a Diploma in Funeral Directing and became a qualified member of The British Institute of Embalmers. Pat was also President of The British Institute of Funeral Directors (2000/2001). He now runs his own funeral business.

John Rotherham, President, Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities
John is a professional Bereavement Services Manager with Chesterfield Borough Council and has a career spanning over 40 years in local government. He trained in horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and later in countryside recreation management at Sheffield Hallam University. Whilst working as Assistant Cemeteries Manager at Sheffield, and as Superintendent and Registrar of Cemeteries and Crematorium at Rotherham, he obtained the Diploma in Burial and Cremation Administration and the Diploma in Park and Recreation Administration. John is a holder of the Eickhof Medal of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and a member of the Institute of Sports, Parks and Leisure. He is currently the President of the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities (FBCA) and serves on the Federation's Executive and Technical Committees, the Management Board of the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM) and he chairs the Steering Group of the Crematoria Abatement of Mercury Emissions Organisation (CAMEO). He is a former Director of the Institute of Cemeteries and Crematorium Management (ICCM) and also represents the FBCA on the Burials and Cemeteries Advisory Group of the Ministry of Justice.

The paper will address the extravagant use of gas in the cremation process and will highlight the potential of realising vast savings in gas consumption where appropriate management techniques are employed and will include the sometimes controversial issue of using excess heat from flue gas treatment to heat the crematorium chapel and other ancillary accommodation.

Andrew is Vice President, Technical Affairs of Facultatieve Technologies who are the world market leader in the field of design, construction and maintenance of incinerators and cremation equipment. Andrew entered the incineration and cremation industry in 1973 after graduating with a first class honours degree in Fuel and Combustion Engineering from the University of Leeds. With Evans Universal Ltd he became Technical Manager in 1978 and Technical Director in 1993 and Vice President of Facultatieve Technologies in 2001. He is a member of the Energy Institute (of which he is Honorary Secretary of the Yorkshire Branch), a member of the Combustion Engineering Association and a Chartered Engineer. Andrew was a member of the DEFRA Working Group for the revision of the Process Guidance Note PG5/2 the Secretary of State’s Guidance for Crematoria.

A presentation of the Church of England’s rationale for reform in four parts:
1. The Church of England today
2. Parochial fees – a history
3. Why reform?
4. Looking to the future

Sarah supports the development of strategic deployment planning for 30,000 active ministers across the country.

Developing legislation and national guidance on pay, pensions and conditions of service that support deployment goals: including legislation and policy for Parochial fees.

Commissioning quantitative and qualitative research to inform effective workforce planning: including social trends, financial modelling and demographics.

Before joining the Archbishops’ Council staff Sarah worked in operational management and organisational design in the Banking, Retail and Construction Sectors.

Sarah is Church Warden of All Saints, Chillenden, a 1,000 yr old church serving a village of 90 souls in Kent.

The results of the latest CAMEO survey will be reviewed. Trends between abating and burden sharing will be highlighted as well as availability of manufacturing capacity to meet demand as the deadline of 31st December 2012 moves ever closer, by which time the cremation industry must show that 50% of all cremations carried out are abated.

This working session will provide practical guidance and advice on the various types of procurement methods available. It will deal with the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), and the Invitation to Tender (ITT) and their evaluation. Funding options will also be considered and input on financing and financial management from the local authority’s perspective will be provided by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

With the vast majority of cremation authorities who have decided to abate yet to undertake the procurement process this extended session is an absolute must. It will provide a great deal of practical information and guidance to those responsible for this task.

Brendan Day, MBA, FICCM (Dip), CAMEO Manager
Brendan commenced as a trainee in Wolverhampton in 1980. He has worked in London, Cheltenham and Cardiff, and is currently Bereavement Services Manager for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. He has been a tutor, examiner and Director of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management and is currently Manager of the CAMEO abatement scheme.

Richard Barradell, Secretary and Treasurer, Association of Private Crematoria and Cemeteries
Richard is the major shareholder in Goldray Limited Management Consultants, which he formed in 1995 after a wide-ranging commercial career, as well as having worked for other management consultancies.

He holds the post-graduate qualification, the Diploma in Management Studies

For the last 12-years, the consultancy has specialised in the funeral, crematoria and cemetery sectors. Richard was very much involved in the development of the mercury abatement legislation, both as an interim (agreed short-term contract) chief executive of a funeral trade association and later as the appointed adviser to the National Association of Funeral Directors, who he now represents on the CAMEO Steering Group. He is actively involved in the running and development of two crematoria and has recently completed a course on Environmental Management Systems. He is a retained management consultant for three of the largest independent funeral organisations in the UK. Recently, he was appointed as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Association of Private Crematoria and Cemeteries.

Adrian Britton, BSc, F.C.A., Commercial Director, Westerleigh Group Ltd
Adrian was educated at the University of London and on leaving University in 1975 joined KPMG. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1978 and worked in accountancy practice for KPMG and Grant Thornton until 1989 when he joined Westerleigh Group as Finance Director at inception of the company. Since that date he has been involved in the development and refurbishment of many crematoria.

Member of Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities’ Executive and Technical Committee since 2000. Former President of the Federation and chairman of CAMEO.

Tony Hall, CPFA, Chartered MCIPD, Stuton Associates Limited
Tony is a fully qualified Public Finance Accountant (CIPFA) who has considerable experience of general management within the public sector at levels ranging from Director to Programme Manager. As Director of Environment for a London Borough, Cemeteries and Crematoria Service was one of the portfolio of services for which he was responsible – he claims no expertise however! Tony works as a independent consultant and “trouble shooter” for public authorities and has provided services to some 40 local authorities across the UK.

Andrew Platts, Managing Director, Technochem UK Ltd (incorporating Anubis Consulting)

The 1918 Pandemic – could history repeat itself? Population, demographic changes and lifestyle have changed to such an extent that the severity of a ‘full blown’ pandemic could be even greater now than it was in 1918. The positive effect of anti-viral drugs could be offset due to the fact that we are ‘less hardy’ nowadays. Infection control is the key to reducing the spread of the flu virus and despite plenty of information from the government, complacency could prove to have fatal consequences. What practical steps do bereavement services have to take to comply with legislation?

Andrew is the Managing Director and founder of Technochem UK Ltd. Technochem (incorporating Anubis Consulting) provides consultancy services to the industrial chemical sector, local government, bereavement services and healthcare organisations.

Andrew was previously Managing Director of the Amity group of companies based in the UK and Cleveland Ohio. The companies developed overseas sales and interests in Europe, the Far East, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the USA and Canada. In January 1999 he visited Egypt at the request of UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) to work with the Egyptian Minister for the Environment, visiting SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) to advise on replacements for ozone depleting chemicals.

Duncan McCallum, Secretary of The Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities

This could be viewed as the most important presentation at the conference as the consequences for everyone of getting it wrong are not even worth thinking about.

In recent weeks, the minds of Government and regional planning officers have been focused on the outbreak of Swine Flu and the fact that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has imposed a level 6 alert. Swine flu has become the world’s first official pandemic in 41 years. The paper will concentrate on the practicality of the measures proposed and focus on how burial and cremation authorities should prepare if faced with a more aggressive form of infection in a second wave of cases. Just how well prepared are cremation and burial authorities? This dual presentation reviews prudent preparatory steps that could be taken now to prepare for such a development.

Duncan is Secretary of the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities. He is a member of the National Working Group dealing with Pandemic Influenza Planning. Duncan spent the first 34 years of his working life in local government in Scotland. He became involved in the cremation movement after taking over responsibility, in 1982, of the operation of Masonhill Crematorium, Ayr. In 1995 he took up the post of Chief Executive of the Crematorium Investment Company which built and operated Holmsford Bridge Crematorium Irvine. In 1999 he moved south as Northern Regional Manager for the Westerleigh Group and was based at Howe Bridge Crematorium in Greater Manchester. Having served on the Technical Committee of the Federation for almost twenty years he became its Secretary in 2004.

A lively question and answer session involving Presidents from leading organisations within the death care profession. A wide variety of topics are covered and delegates will have the opportunity to put their questions direct to the leaders of their respective professions.