Old graves could be reused under new recommendations put forward to manage the shortage of burial space in Britain.
Under the proposed changes put forward by the Law Commission, graveyards declared “full’’ during the Victorian era could also be reopened.
The commission has warned the urban areas across England and Wales of fast running out of burial space.
There have been proposed changes to allow any burial ground to reuse graves, but only following public consultation and government approval.
Safeguards would also be in place for each individual grave, with plots only eligible for reuse when the last person was buried at least 75 years ago.
Another separate public consultation is considering the time frames around grave reuse, and what would happen if family members objected.
Prof. Nick Hopkins, commissioner for property, family and trust law, said any change would need to be tackled in consultation with the public.
“Our proposals provide a significant opportunity to reform burial and cremation law and secure burial space for future generations.
“This must be done sensitively and with wider public support,” he said.
Current legislation made it illegal to redevelop a graveyard for any reason other than to grow a place of worship.
Other publicly-run cemeteries can be redeveloped if the owner was granted an Act of Parliament.
Alex Davies-Jones, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said the government was supportive of the Law Commission’s work.
“We await with interest the Law Commission’s recommendations, in due course, on the most appropriate framework to provide modern, consistent regulation for burial and cremation,” she said.
Public consultation on the proposed changes is open until January 2025.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has pledged 272,500 barrels per day of crude oil through a series of crude-for-loan deals totalling $8.86bn.
By pledging 272,500 barrels daily, it means that about 8.17 million barrels of crude will be used for different loan deals by the national oil firm on a monthly basis.
This is according to an analysis of a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the NNPC’s financial statements.
Under these deals, notable projects include Project Panther, Project Bison, Project Eagle Export Funding (Original, Subsequent, and Subsequent 2 Debts), Project Yield, and Project Gazelle.
According to The Tide’s source, NNPC has already fully repaid $2.61bn in loans, representing 29.4 per cent of the total credit facility, while $6.25bn or 70.6 per cent, remains outstanding.
Also, out of the $8.86bn credit facility, only about $6.97bn has been received from seven crude-for-loan deals.
One of the key projects, Project Panther, involves a joint venture between NNPC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, backed by international and local banks.
The project secured a $1.4bn loan facility, with 23,500bpd pledged to service the debt. Repayment is set to commence after a moratorium, with financing terms including an SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) plus 5.5 per cent margin and a liquidity premium.
Another significant deal is Project Bison, tied to NNPC’s attempt to acquire a 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote refinery. However, the national oil company only acquired a 7.25 per cent stake.
The project secured a $1.04bn loan from Afrexim Bank, with 35,000 bpd pledged as collateral. NNPC fully repaid this loan in June 2024.
Project Eagle Export Funding comprises three separate loans aimed at meeting various financial obligations.
The original loan, secured in 2020 for $935m, was serviced with 30,000 bpd and was fully repaid by September 2023.
A subsequent loan of $635m was also fully repaid by the same period. The third tranche, known as Project Eagle Export Funding Subsequent 2 Debt, was secured in 2023 for $900m, with 21,000 bpd pledged. Repayment is scheduled to begin in June 2024, and the loan will mature in 2028.
Project Yield, designed to support the Port Harcourt Refining Company, involves a $950m loan, with 67,000 bpd pledged for repayment.
The repayment of the loan, secured in 2022, will begin in December. This seven-year facility is crucial to refurbishing the refinery and enhancing domestic refining capacity.
However, despite this crude-for-loan arrangement, The Tide reports that fuel production at the Port Harcourt refinery has yet to commence, despite multiple postponements as of August. Promises from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC have repeatedly fallen through.
More recently, there was the Project Gazelle deal, which aimed to stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
In December 2023, NNPC secured a $3bn forward sale agreement, pledging 90,000bpd from Production Sharing Contract assets to cover future tax and royalty obligations.
As of the end of 2023, $2.25bn had been drawn from this facility, with repayments scheduled to begin by mid-2024.
These crude-for-loan deals come at a time when Nigeria is struggling to boost its oil production.
The NEITI 2022-2023 report revealed a significant decline in crude oil output, reaching the lowest levels in a decade. In 2022, the country produced 490.94 million barrels of crude oil, a steep drop from the peak of 798.54 million barrels in 2014.
Although production slightly improved to 537.57 million barrels in 2023, this still represents only 67.16 per cent of the country’s peak production capacity.
One of the major challenges facing the sector is production deferment. In 2023, Nigeria deferred 110.66 million barrels of crude oil, down from 153.44 million barrels in 2022.
The deferment was primarily due to unscheduled maintenance, repair issues, and oil theft.
Despite government efforts to curb these issues, including initiatives to reduce theft and sabotage, operational inefficiencies persist.
NEITI reported that oil theft and sabotage resulted in the loss of 5.25 million barrels in 2023, exacerbating production struggles.
The House of Representatives Special Joint Committee recently directed NNPC to halt further crude-for-loan agreements.
This directive follows reports that the company is planning to borrow an additional $2bn in oil-backed loans amid efforts to settle a $6bn backlog owed to international oil traders, particularly following the removal of fuel subsidy.
The Tide’s source reported that the NNPC was in talks for another oil-backed loan to boost its finances and allow investment in its business, according to the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mele Kyari.
Kyari said the company wanted the new loan against 30,000-35,000 barrels per day of crude production, though he declined to say how much money it sought.
Nigeria’s government finances rely on oil the NNPC exports, which provides the bulk of crucial foreign exchange reserves. However, pipeline theft and years of underinvestment have sapped oil production in recent years, and the cost of fuel subsidies has further depleted cash reserves.
President Bola Tinubu has been struggling to implement reforms in Africa’s biggest oil exporter – including eliminating fuel subsidies and allowing the naira currency to trade close to market levels – without putting the country’s population at a cost-of-living breaking point.
It explained at the time that the oil company would use the loan to support the Federal Government in stabilising Nigeria’s exchange rate.
The facility, among other things, would help the Federal Government attend to some of its dollar obligations, assist the Central Bank of Nigeria in stabilising the foreign exchange market, and provide funding for NNPC.
Providing details about the deal in the document titled, “Everything you need to know about the NNPC Limited’s $3.3bn loan, also known as Project Gazelle,” NNPC said, “This is a financing agreement secured by NNPC Limited to prepay future royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.”
The company also stated that it adopted a lower price benchmark for the $3.3bn crude-for-cash loan to reduce the risk of default and ensure financial stability.
Giving details on the benchmark oil price, the company said the facility used a conservative crude price of $65/barrel to calculate the allocated crude to be produced and sold.
NNPC also said repayments were strategically planned and tied to future oil sales, with conservative pricing in oil sales contracts mitigating the risks associated with oil price volatility.

The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it is in total support of the conduct of the Local Government elections in Rivers State on the 5th of October, 2024.
The party has also stated that it is participating in the elections, and has, indeed, submitted the names of its candidates for the various positions.
The party made its position known in a letter to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
INEC Headquarters,
Abuja, titled “Re: Position of the Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) on the forthcoming Local Government Election in Rivers State Vis-a-vis the Judgement in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/987/2024.”
A statement signed by Chairman, APC Rivers State, Chief Emeka Beke, and State Secretary, APC Rivers State, Hon. Sam Sam Etetegwung, in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, recalled that following an attempt by some members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress to displace the duly elected State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress, Rivers State Chapter by purporting to have dissolved the Executive Committee and replaced same with a caretaker committee led by one Chief Tony Okocha, the
elected State Executive Committee approached the High Court of Rivers State in Suit No.
PHC/3592/CS/2023 (between Sam Sam Etetegwung and Abdullahi Ganduje & Ors), and Suit No. PCH/3735/CS/2023 (between Chief Barnax Ezeboy Enyi & Ors and All Progressives Congress & Ors).
The statement noted that in a judgement, the High Court of Rivers State presided by Hon. Justice S. H. Aprioku, affirmed the validity and subsistence of the Beke-led Executive Committee until 2025.
It further added that the court also set aside the purported caretaker committee of Chief Tony Okocha, and declared that the duly elected State Executive Committee (as led by Chief Emeka Beke) is the authentic leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State.
The statement also stated that the party was aware that the Federal High Court presided by Hon. Justice Peter Lifu delivered a judgement in Suit No. PHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024.
It further stated that it is equally aware that on the 4th day of September, 2024, the High Court of Rivers State presided by Hon Justice I. P. C. Igwe in Suit No. PHC/2696/CS/2024 between Action Peoples Party (APP) and Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission had given a judgement compelling the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to proceed with the local government election scheduled for 5th October, 2024 or any other date of its choice.
It noted that the judgement, being first-in-time to the latter judgement in FHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024, takes precedence, cognizance of the fact that when two equities are equal, the first in time prevails.
According to the statement: “We, however, hereby notify you that Chief Tony Okocha, who filed that suit purportedly as ‘Chairman, Caretaker Committee’ of the All Progressives
Congress, Rivers State Chapter, is an impostor and totally unknown to the Rivers Chapter of the All Progressives Congress. He is neither the Chairman nor is he a leader in any capacity whatsoever. He (Chief Tony Okocha) does not also have the authority of the leadership of the party in Rivers State as constituted under Chief Emeka Beke, to file or maintain the said suit on its behalf.
“We are equally aware that on the 4th day of September, 2024, the High Court of Rivers State per Hon Justice I. P. C. Igwe in Suit No. PHC/2696/CS/2024 between Action Peoples Party (APP) and Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission has given a judgement compelling the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to proceed with the local government election scheduled for 5th October, 2024 or any other date of its choice. That judgement, being first-in-time to the latter judgement in FHC /ABJ/CS/987/2024, takes precedence. As we all know, when two equities are equal, the first in time prevails.
“Under the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress, all issues
relating to the participation in the local government elections are within the authority of the State Executive Committee, and so, it is the Executive Committee as led by himself (Chief Emeka Beke) that determines whether and how the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress is to participate in the forthcoming local government elections in Rivers State.
“What matters is that the Supreme Court of Nigeria had already ordered the Government of Rivers State to conduct Local Government Elections in Rivers State within three months of judgement, hence the Federal High Court cannot lawfully overrule the Supreme Court by stopping the holding of the said election,” the statement added.
According to the statement, “It is on the above premise, that we write to notify you and your commission (INEC) that the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress totally supports the holding of the Local Government elections in Rivers State on the 5th of October, 2024. The Party is participating in the elections, and have indeed, submitted the names of its candidates for the various positions.”
The statement further reiterated that the judgement in Suit No. PHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024 does not represent the interest of the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, and accordingly distanced itself from the suit and judgment.
It further urged the public and institutions to discountenance the rantings and antics of Tony Okocha and his cohorts, and fully participate in the October 5 local government election in the State.