Cardross Crematorium Inspection
Argyll and Bute Council · 2 March 2023
Back to Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee — 2 March 2023 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE ROADS AND INFRASTRUCTURE 02 MARCH 2023 SERVICES CARDROSS CREMATORIUM INSPECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This is a short covering report to the recent inspection report for Cardross Crematorium. 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that Members 2.1 Endorse the findings of the inspection 3.0 DETAIL 3.1 Cardross Crematorium was inspected by the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities on 1st November, and we received their inspection report just before Christmas. The inspection considers six areas: Cremation administration Ceremony facilities Cremation facilities Premises and facilities Grounds and memorialisation Service and staff 3.2 The Crematorium Inspector found an excellent level of service provision and did not feel it necessary to make any recommendations. The report is at Appendix 1. 3.3 The overall report was excellent, with a score of 411 provided through the inspection, out of a possible maximum score of 455, achieving over 90% compliance. The Crematorium scored particularly well under the administration, premises and facilities and rounds and memorialisation categories.
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3.4 The report highlighted some areas for improvement which are noted below with comments/actions we are taking or the challenges we are making to the conclusions. The report is scored on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ basis and the indicators below were answered ‘no’ by the Inspector. Their further comments are noted in the results column with the Council comment/action in the last column. Indicator Result Comment/action The flow of mourners through the chapel and ground is designed and managed to prevent conveyer-belt feeling. A conveyor feeling exists. We do not accept this result. Bookings are for an hour – services generally last between 35 and 45 minutes, which leaves time to reset the chapel if there is a subsequent booking. A few years ago we extended our booking slots from 45mins to an hour to allow mourners more time to pay their respects. It is of paramount importance to staff at the crematorium that mourners are able to pay their respects in a dignified and un-rushed manner. The service can be viewed remotely via the internet. Webcasting facilities are not available The data connection at the Crematorium is poor – we are working with IT colleagues to have this upgraded. At that point mourners/funeral directors will be able to use the infrastructure to webcast/stream services in a personalised way The chapel is appropriately dressed with floral displays. No floral displays in chapel. We do not provide floral displays around the chapel as a matter of course. This has never been something that Cardross Crematorium has provided since it opened in 1961, and this is not something that we are aware of other similar
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facilities in Scotland do. There is of course the facility for families to have their own personalised floral displays and there is an area reserved around the Book of Remembrance for family flowers. The general maintenance of crematory walls, floors and ceiling is in good order The standard of cleanliness is poor. We do not accept this result. We consider the cleanliness standards in the Crematorium to be good. We will challenge this result with the Inspector. A contingency plan is in place for cremator breakdowns No contingency plan exists. We do not accept this result. We have an older cremator which, while not compliant for full operations with modern standards, we are allowed to operate for 100hours per year. We can use this in the event of any issues with the main cremator. We have a robust contract in place for maintenance which allows for ‘’live’’ remote fault fixing, and if an engineer visit is required this always happens within one working day. This contract works well and the maintenance company are very responsive. Metals are recovered after cremation for recycling No opportunity is given to the applicant to have the metal recycled and/or the crematorium is not a member of a recycling scheme. There is a scheme which officers will be looking to sign up to where the metals are removed through a Scottish Government contractor and recycled with the monies going to
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charity. A defibrillator is available on site. A defibrillator is available on site. This has been marked as a ‘no’ but the comment in the results section would mean a ‘yes’ answer. This is most likely a typo which we have gone back to the Inspector on. There is a defibrillator on site. We will challenge this result with the Inspector. The exterior of all buildings are well maintained. The external part of the buildings is not well maintained. We do not accept this result. There is a reasonable system of inspection and any issues identified through that process, or those raised outwith the normal inspections by staff on site, are dealt with through the Council’s property maintenance term contract. We will challenge this result with the Inspector. There are enough litter bins available and well-maintained. There are enough litter bins. This has been marked as a ‘no’ but the comment in the results section would mean a ‘yes’ answer. This is most likely a typo which we have gone back to the Inspector on. We will challenge this result with the Inspector. There is an area specifically dedicated for memorials for babies and children. A dedicated area does not exist. The Garden of Remembrance is a non- personalised, communal area for the use of all mourners. There is a process in place for dealing with customer/client No process in place for dealing with feedback and complaints We do not accept this result
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feedback and complaints. The Council has processes in place to receive feedback and manage complaints. We will challenge this result with the Inspector. The website is transparent and provides sufficiently detailed information The website does not provide transparent and/or detailed information. We are currently reviewing the online content with colleagues in the Web Team with a view to providing more detailed information. A further discussion with the Inspector about ‘best practice’ information will be set up. 3.4 We would expect some positive movement on the overall score once we have made our above noted challenges, which should improve our overall score slightly. In any event this is an excellent inspection outcome and congratulations should go to the retiring Crematorium Superintendent and his team. The next inspection will be in 3 – 5 years. 4.0 CONCLUSION 4.1 Cardross Crematorium continues to be a well performing facility, as evidenced in the appended inspection report. 5.0 IMPLICATIONS 5.1 Policy – none 5.2 Financial – none 5.3 Legal – none 5.4 HR – none known 5.5 Fairer Scotland Duty: 5.5.1 Equalities - protected characteristics – none known 5.5.2 Socio-economic Duty – none known 5.5.3 Islands – none known
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5.6 Climate Change – none 5.7 Risk – none known 5.8 Customer Service - none Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services Kirsty Flanagan Policy Lead for Climate Change and Environment Councillor Ross Moreland February 2023 For further information contact: Tom Murphy, Operations Manager or Tommy McLean, Crematorium Superintendent. Appendix 1 – Crematorium Compliance Scheme Report