Sheffield Council Changes Burial Policy

The Sheffield council admitted they "got it wrong" when they refused a family's request for a weekend burial because the deceased wasn't a muslim. Sheffield councilor Shaffaq Mohammed released a statement which said "The council would like to unreservedly apologise to Mr Lemaire's family for the distress that has been caused.

"After looking into this issue we can now see we got it wrong and this particular policy needs to change." The Star via Dinah Lord

SHEFFIELD Council has announced a dramatic U-turn after a policy allowing only Muslim burials to take place at the weekend caused outrage.
The Star reported on Wednesday how Jean Maltby from Greenhill was not allowed to bury her step-father Harold 'Charlie' Lemaire on a Saturday because the council only offered the service to Muslims at the weekend.

Now the heads of Sheffield's two leading parties have written to council officers about their disappointment and concern.

The council has admitted they "got it wrong" and is working out a new policy to offer people of every faith living in the city the same service.

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The letter from Sheffield Council leader Coun Paul Scriven and Sheffield Labour Group leader Coun Jan Wilson said: "We would like to put on the record our shared disappointment and shock upon learning a grieving Sheffield family have been told they can't bury a family member on a Saturday because he was not a Muslim.

"We will be speaking to council officers to sort this out as a matter of urgency, to make sure everyone can access these services equally, whatever community they are from, so no other grieving family has to go through this."

The council has apologised "unreservedly" to Ms Maltby and the rest of the family.

A statement from Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, cabinet member for climate change and local environment, said: "The council would like to unreservedly apologise to Mr Lemaire's family for the distress that has been caused.

"After looking into this issue we can now see we got it wrong and this particular policy needs to change.

"We should be offering the same burial service to every citizen of Sheffield regardless of faith.