Douglas Borough Cemetery is to adopt a nationally-recognised charter which lays down standards of good practice.

The charter is widely used in the UK and was developed in 1976 by the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management as a gold standard in customer care for bereaved people.

The charter covers a number of areas including behaviour and qualifications of crematorium staff, care for the environment and sensitive conduct of the funeral service.

Councillors at a recent meeting of the council’s regeneration and community committee heard the crematorium must satisfy a total of 52 criteria. Having recently been assessed by the ICCM, the council already satisfied all 52 criteria and was well on the way to meeting the other requirements as well.

Councillors were told the annual subscription cost to be a member of the charter is £310 and could be covered from the existing budget.

Councillor Deborah Pitts, who is a member of the regeneration and community committee, said adoption of the charter was a great positive move for the council and would help people in a time of great stress in their lives.

The cemetery has recently benefited from major improvement work which included upgrades to the waiting area and toilets as well as resurfacing to the main driveway and some of the paths.

The charter says services have to be managed efficiently and sensitively taking account of religious or secular requirements. Staff should be respectful and have attained specific qualifications in their particular line of work. It also specifies a need to adopt environmentally friendly practices in relation to ensuring efficient use of energy and minimising emissions. The public is allowed to inspect the crematorium and cemetery during working hours.