NEW legislation on burials and cremations has been brought in to ensure Scotland’s baby ashes scandal never happens again.

Hundreds of parents across the country have no idea where their baby’s ashes are after staff at crematoria threw them away in a controversy sparked by revelations at Edinburgh’s Mortonhall.

Campaigners said it was “100 per cent down to the determination” of those parents that the Scottish Government now plans to change the law, introducing a legal definition of ashes and requiring authorities to keep details of both burials and cremations indefinitely.

The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill will also ensure the details are recorded when these involve a stillborn baby or a pregnancy that has been lost.

The legislation has been brought forward in the aftermath of the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal, when it emerged staff at crematorium had secretly buried the ashes of babies for decades without their parents’ knowledge.

Linsay and David Bonar from Lanark launched the Forget-Me-Not care and counselling group for bereaved parents in memory of their son Lachlan, who died aged three days in January 2006, and have helped hundreds involved in the baby ashes scandal.

“This is much needed in the funeral industry and much welcomed by the parents,” said Linsay. “It is just the fact it gives us absolute and complete assurance that this will never happen again. Parents will always have the transparency and clarity that they deserve.

“It is absolutely 100 per cent down to the parents; the whole thing lies at the feet of those parents who have been affected and have fought to be heard.

“If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have gained the support we did from political parties and the Scottish Government, and it just went from there.

“The Health Minister wrote a letter to us say she had no doubt in her mind that it is due to the parents. It was worded really well because it struck us just how far we have actually come.”

Lindsay Bruce from Thompsons Solicitors, who represents many families caught up in the baby ashes scandal, said the provisions of the bill marked “real progress”.

She added: “The most important thing is that it puts bereaved parents at the centre of decision-making. Never again will parents be ignored or their wishes circumvented. If this legislation had already been in place it would have prevented some of the appalling practices that have been routine in crematoria across Scotland for years.”

The Scottish Government has already made changes to meet the recommendations of Lord Bonomy’s Infant Cremation Commission, with the new bill following on from this.

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt hailed the legislation “an important step forward in bringing the governance of burials and cremations in this country into the 21st century”. She said: “While this bill is an extremely positive step forward, we cannot forget that parts of this legislation have arisen from some very tragic circumstances.

“I have written to those parents affected by the historic practices of certain crematoria and who have been involved in the work of the National Committee on Cremation, to give them more detail about the contents of the bill.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contribution towards the process of preparing this legislation.

“The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill will provide the legislative framework to ensure this can never happen again.”

The bill will update and modernise legislation that dates back 100 years and, if passed, will give ministers the power to formally regulate the funeral industry – a move that could pave the way for a licensing scheme for funeral directors to be brought in.

It also sets out to regulate private burials, which take place at home or on private land, and proposes allowing abandoned lairs to be restored for use in tightly controlled circumstances.

'It was a big thing for us to be involved in helping future parents'

A GRIEVING mother taking legal action against a private crematorium after her baby’s ashes were “thrown away” hailed the new legislation as a positive step forward.

Lee-Anne Gerry, 27, was 10 days overdue when she was told baby Ellie had died in the womb and she had to give birth to the dead child.

Student Lee-Anne cradled Ellie in her arms and told her how much she loved her before nurses took her away.

At a private funeral service at Craigton Crematorium in Glasgow, she says she was told by staff there would be no ashes.

Lee-Anne, who joined hundreds of other mums in Glasgow to take legal action against crematoria, welcomed the introduction of the new legislation.

She added: “I really feel the Scottish Government has taken everything the parents have been saying on board throughout and we have been given the respect we deserve.

“We got to have some input into this and it was a big thing for us to be involved in helping future parents and saving them from the hell we are all going through.

“I wish this had been changed a long time ago so that me and all the other parents wouldn’t be in this terrible position.”

Lee-Anne’s case is one of hundreds of being examined by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini as part of a national investigation.