Meeting with Bereavement Services – It’s Time to “Walk the Walk”

Our meeting with Bereavement Services on Monday went exactly as we expected.

Due to Edinburgh Council’s six-month-rule on not revisiting decisions until six months has passed, Bereavement Services hands were tied, in relation to what they could do.

We will not lie. The tone of the meeting was defensive and intransigent.

It appears, not just from our meeting, but also what the counter petition has written about their meeting held days later, that Bereavement Services Management have already made up their mind on this issue, and their opinion is that any sort of ban on dogs is not wanted and unnecessary.

This is not the impartial view we expected from Bereavement Services Management.

We were particularly perturbed by the claims that “there will never be a ban” and “the Cemetery Management Rules are not due be discussed at the August Committee meeting”.

It was mentioned several times at the Culture & Communities Committee meeting on 1st February 2022, when Paul delivered his first deputation, that if a trial was not successful, some type of ban would be the next step.  

We have asked for clarification of these statements, whether they were a personal opinion, or whether they reflect a shift in Edinburgh Council’s policy around dogs in cemeteries? We suspect the former. 

It is important to note that whilst Bereavement Services can make recommendations for the Cemetery Management Rules, ultimately it is the elected officials on the Culture & Communities Committee that have the final say on any changes to the rules.

Bereavement Services remit is to enforce these rules.

Edinburgh Council’s executive committees are made up of elected members. These elected members make the key policy and strategy decisions. These policies decide how services are run. The plans are then carried out by Council Officers.

Therefore, our timing and plans remain unchanged:

• We will continue to build our case for a change in Cemetery Management Rules around the issue of dogs in cemeteries. We will do this by continuing to gather more information, facts, and statistics, and publishing these in updates on our petition and social media.
  
  
• We will be formally requesting a meeting with Cllr Val Walker, Convener of the Culture & Communities Committee at Edinburgh Council. Cllr Walker has already kindly offered to have a meeting, so we just need to agree a date.
  
  
• In June 2024, once the six-month-rule expires, we will formally request that the Cemetery Management Rules are added to the next available Culture & Communities Committee, which will be in August.

Regardless of the current situation around the six-month-rule, staff in Bereavement Services and Jeremy Balfour MSP made some positive short term suggestions, which we thank them for. 

These include:

• New cemetery signage with revised wording, including the term “short leads only”. These new signs went up at Morningside Cemetery today.
  
  
• A “new” education programme, to inform dog walkers of a cemeteries core purpose. An education programme was supposed to have been part of the “years trial” (a trial which actually lasted 18 months) in 2022, however we learned at this week’s meeting that this was never implemented. This was very disappointing to hear.
  
  
• Jeremy Balfour MSP is going to approach the Scottish Government, to see if funding is available for a similar nationwide education programme.

Whilst these are positive short-term steps, and we are curious to see what effect they may have in the coming months, we remain sceptical of whether they will be enough.

Paul has been down this compromise road before.

He compromised in February 2022, agreeing in good faith to a one year trial of a “dogs on leads” rule, which was to include “education and enforcement”. This compromise was made, despite Paul voicing his concerns at the time that it was not going to be enough.

We found out at this week’s meeting that the education was never carried out, and not a single person has been asked to leave or excluded from an Edinburgh cemetery, due to enforcement in the 25 month period from February 2022 to the present day.

Paul is still here, over two years on from his first deputation to the Culture & Communities Committee, being asked to compromise again.

An entirely unacceptable situation, which must be seen as a failure - not just for Paul and his family, but for all the other Edinburgh residents who have faced similar issues and agree with our stance.

We will sign off this update with two direct quotes from Edinburgh Council’s “Cemetery Management Rules – Outcome of Consultation Report” from 2022.

“Although the Council encourages appropriate use and enjoyment of the cemetery spaces, this must accord with the core purpose of the spaces. Cemeteries are places for burial and for the bereaved to visit, reflect and remember, and for contemplation in a quiet space. Any other use must not detract from that core purpose”. 

“Cemeteries in Edinburgh are quiet spaces for the burial of deceased persons and cremated remains. The use of these spaces for more than this purpose is welcome, however the understanding of, and respect for, their primary purpose must remain at the heart of any other activities that take place”.  

Edinburgh Council can certainly “talk the talk” …

However, it is long overdue for them to “walk the walk”.

We feel the needs of dog owners are constantly being put above the needs of the bereaved.  

Edinburgh Council is not following through on its own clearly stated commitments above. It is refusing to grasp the nettle on this issue, and to put the needs of the bereaved front & centre.  

The needs of the bereaved trump the needs of dog walkers…every…single…time.

We have no intention of stopping our campaign for stronger rules around dogs in Edinburgh cemeteries. The figures on our Change petition after only two months of campaigning do not lie.

We currently have 1283 signatures, 738 more than the counter petition’s 545 signatures.

There may not be an appetite from Bereavement Services Management for a change to the current Cemetery Management Rules, but there certainly seems to be an appetite amongst Edinburgh’s residents, and they are who the Council serves.