Ashes of 1,000 babies not returned to their parents
Crematoria across the UK did not return the ashes of more than 1,000 babies to their parents over the past five years, according to BBC research.
By Lorna GordonBBC News Scotland correspondent Data released under Freedom of Information laws shows the return of baby ashes was routine in some parts of the country but not in others. The revelations follow the publication of a report into the scandal at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh. Babies' ashes were buried or scattered there without the parents' knowledge. The BBC asked all 265 crematoria in the UK how they dealt with the cremation of still-born and very young babies up to six months old. 'Not recovered' Of the 140 which replied in full, the figures showed that some crematoria were routinely returning the ashes of babies. But there were 1,032 cases of ashes not being returned to families between 2008 and 2013. These included 311 cases where the crematorium said no ashes were recovered. In the other 721 cases, ashes were recovered from the cremation process but were not returned to parents. The reasons for the ashes not being returned in this five-year period were not always clear. The Freedom of Information requests revealed: Some parents said they want more to be done to improve practices. Glen and Louise Perkins' daughter Olivia was four and a half months old when she died in December 2007. She was cremated at Shrewsbury Crematorium in Shropshire and her parents said they were told by the funeral director that there would be no ashes. They were surprised but did not have the strength at the time to question the process. 'Human right' Mr Perkins said: "We thought about it all the time. "We haven't stopped thinking about it for seven years. "We shouldn't have had to lose her in the first place but when we found out via experts that there are ashes after cremations, we just felt as though we'd lost her again." Mr Perkins said the family felt they had been robbed of the human right to be able to lay their daughter to rest. Shropshire Council said it was difficult to comment on operations in 2007 as the crematorium had been run by the former Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council at the time. But in a statement the council said it was "confident that since 2009 the appropriate procedures have been followed in cases involving the sad death of a baby or unborn child." The council added that it was "confident that the wishes of bereaved parents and families have been, and are, followed at all times." But it said it would consider the recommendations made by Lord Bonomy into cremations in Scotland "to see if any current practices require updating."