Six years after a House of Commons select committee said an effective national policy for burial grounds could not be formulated until the government knew just how many burial grounds there were, a list is nearly ready for publication, says the Department for Constitutional Affairs. It has cost £50,000 to produce.

The information is intended, for the first time, to identify burial grounds, including municipal, church and private cemeteries, and show how much space has been used and how much is still available. The Department for Constitutional Affairs say they hope to post the information on their website (www.dca.gov.uk) during the first half of this year".

Because this was the first time such a register had been put together, there was no existing list to refer to in order to send out the questionnaires, so the government relied on district councils and diocesan registrars to cascade down the forms to the relevant people. They have ended up with nearly 10,000 returns, says the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

As well as finding out where the burial grounds are, the questionnaire sought information about whether the site is still in use for new burials and, if it is, the remaining life span. The government also wanted information about the size of sites and the number of people employed by the cemetery.

The study came about as a result of the Government\'s select committee investigation into burial grounds in 2001. The committee said then that its enquiry was being hampered by a lack of information. "We do not even know how many burial authorities there are, still less how many cemeteries," complained the committee.

The Home Office said it would find out during 2001 and report back. However, the subject seemed to move down the government\'s agenda as it moved out of the limelight of press interest.