Shropshire baby ashes campaigner to join national working group
A leading campaigner fighting for justice over Shropshire's baby ashes scandal has been invited to a national working group to advise on changes to cremation rules and regulations.
Glen Perkins, founder of campaign group Action 4 Ashes was invited to join the National Cremation Working Group by Justice Minister Caroline Dinenage.
It comes less than a month after a number of landmark changes to laws and regulations were revealed to ensure historic practices at Shrewsbury's Emstrey Crematorium are not repeated.
The campaign led to a Government-led consultation, followed by a report stating changes including a statutory definition of ashes, bring the cremation of babies born at less than 24 weeks' under regulation for the first time and consider creating a crematorium inspector.
The changes are some of the biggest in crematorium law for 100 years. Now, Mr Perkins, whose four-month-old daughter Olivia died in 2007, will join the National Cremation Working Party, considering any further changes.
He said: "It is made up of a team of experts that are going to take all these considerations on board for proposed changes and advise Government on what to do next.
"It is unbelievable, it is unreal. Obviously it is welcomed, I will do the best I can as part of it.
"We have always wanted to have a voice there alongside other people and experts that could put our case forward. I didn't expect it to be me. It is a voice in the right place, we couldn't get much higher than that."
An investigation launched in 2014 found as many as 51 families were not given ashes following cremation of their children at the crematorium on London Road.
At the time, Shropshire Council launched an independent inquiry and subsequently apologised to all the families involved.
As part of the group, Mr Perkins said he would push for the introduction of a national inspector of crematoria, as well as a national investigation.
