Mortonhall baby ashes: Bereaved parents to get £100k for counselling
Mortonhall baby ashes: Public inquiry 'not ruled out'
(about 5 hours later)
Parents of the infants involved in the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal are to receive funding from the Scottish government for counselling.
A public inquiry into the baby ashes scandal has not been ruled out, Scotland's public health minister has told MSPs.
First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs at Holyrood an extra £100,000 would be made available to help families.
Michael Matheson said the matter would be considered once Lord Bonomy's report into infant cremation practices across Scotland had been published,
He also confirmed that the Lord Advocate had referred Dame Elish Angiolini's report to the police for further investigation.
The report is expected to be released at the end of the month.
A working group has been set up to act on the report's recommendations.
It follows the publication of a separate report into Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
The group has been tasked with drawing up an action plan to ensure that there is no repeat of the "tragedy" which saw staff at the crematorium burying ashes in secret for decades.
The Mortonhall report, by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini, found staff at the crematorium had been burying babies' ashes in secret for decades.
The report by Dame Elish Angiolini, published on Wednesday, made a series of recommendations for improving practices at the crematorium.
The report said the hundreds of parents affected by the scandal had not been told that ashes were left after their babies were cremated because it was believed by staff to have been "too distressing" for them.
Meanwhile, Scotland's public health minister, Michael Matheson, said there had been "systemic failings" at the crematorium "for several decades".
Dame Elish described the practice as a "great tragedy" that left some parents facing a "lifetime of uncertainty" over where their babies had been laid to rest.
Michael Matheson claimed there had "obviously been very serious failings" in the way Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh had been run.
Similar practices are believed to have been carried out at other crematoria in Scotland.
Parents of young babies were told that no ashes were left when they were cremated.
Several relatives of young babies who were cremated at Mortonhall between 1967 and 2011 have called for a full public inquiry to be carried out.
Action plan
In a ministerial statement at Holyrood in the wake of Dame Elish's report, Mr Matheson said a decision would not be made until the Infant Cremation Commission led by Lord Bonomy had reported.
The report said parents affected by the scandal had not been told that ashes were left after their babies were cremated because it would have been "too distressing".
'Necessary legislation'
Dame Elish described the practice as a "great tragedy" that left some parents facing a "lifetime of uncertainty".
He said: "We must ensure that all affected parents receive the same level of investigation as happened for the 253 families affected at Mortonhall.
Following the publication of the report, a motion by the council's ruling Capital Coalition was unanimously approved at a meeting Thursday.
"I know some parents have reiterated their call for a public inquiry. I would like to reassure these parents: I hear that call.
It called for the creation of a multi-agency working group containing representatives from the council, Scottish government, NHS Lothian and Sands Lothian.
"We have never ruled out a public inquiry. We have always said we would reflect on that once we have received the reports from Dame Angiolini and Lord Bonomy. That is what we will do."
Its remit will be to consider the recommendations in Dame Elish Angiolini's report and devise an action plan.
Mr Matheson also said the Scottish government would "not hesitate to bring forward the necessary legislation and take the necessary steps once the commission has reported".
Mr Matheson said he hoped the "thoroughness" of the report would provide bereaved parents with some comfort.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, who said she had been approached for help by bereaved parents in her Glasgow constituency, urged the Scottish government to agree to a public inquiry now.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "For any parent it's difficult to imagine how it must feel to lose a child, but to then be put through the trauma this report highlights is very challenging and it is very distressing.
"It would give confidence to families and respond to the scepticism of families," she said, adding that parents had lost confidence in the system after being misled in the past.
"One element I can say that I hope some parents would take some reassurance from is the detail and the very thoroughness of this report that Dame Elish Angiolini has completed, which goes into the whole issue in great detail and illustrates what have been systemic failings at Mortonhall Crematorium for several decades now.
Scottish Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw backed Ms Lamont's call, citing the "sheer scale" of the events at Mortonhall and the detail of Dame Elish's report.
"At Mortonhall Crematorium there appears to have been a culture which has been based upon practices established by certain members of staff over many years on the basis of how they wanted to run the crematorium in their own way.
Party leader Ruth Davidson has also urged the Scottish government to set up a full public inquiry.
"There have obviously been very serious failings in the way in which this crematorium has been managed over a long period of time and that's why it is important that the recommendations that Dame Elish outlined in her report are considered in great detail, so we can address the failings."
Earlier, First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs an extra £100,000 would be made available for parents of bereaved children to receive counselling.
Special meeting
He also confirmed that the Lord Advocate had referred Dame Elish's report to police for further investigation into possible criminality.
Andrew Burns, Edinburgh City Council leader, said: "On behalf of the council, I want to offer profound apologies to parents for the distress and pain caused by the previous practices at Mortonhall."
A working group comprised of representatives from City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish government, NHS Lothian and campaigners, has been set up to act on the report's recommendations.
He said he had asked the council's chief executive to put together a multi-agency working group to consider the report's recommendations.
Dame Elish's report made a series of recommendations for improving practices at crematoria.
"The group will be tasked with a detailed action plan for consideration at next month's special meeting of council," he said.
It said it was not known for sure what remains of which babies were interred in an unmarked "garden of remembrance" at Mortonhall due to a "longstanding and wholesale failure" to keep accurate records.
"We must act on the recommendations to ensure that the highest possible standards are adhered to at Mortonhall and that nothing like this can happen again."
Sue Bruce will be responsible for chairing and facilitating both the operation of the working group and the delivery of its remit.
Dame Elish's report said it was not known for sure what remains of which babies were interred in an unmarked "garden of remembrance" at Mortonhall due to a "longstanding and wholesale failure" to keep accurate records.
The inquiry also found that baby ashes were cremated in the evening when incinerators were cooler, and any ash found in the morning "would be mixed in with the first adult cremation in the morning".
The inquiry also found that baby ashes were cremated in the evening when incinerators were cooler, and any ash found in the morning "would be mixed in with the first adult cremation in the morning".
There will be a ministerial statement on the Mortonhall Investigation Report at 2.30pm, which can be viewed live or later on demand, at BBC Scotland's Democracy Live website.
