Rise in number of public health funerals paid for by councils

Updated

The number of funerals paid for by local councils has increased, with the cost to them rising by more than a quarter in four years, according to the latest figures.

The largest number of public health funerals in the UK were held in the north-west of England, a Freedom of Information Request by the BBC showed.

Under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, councils must arrange and bear the cost of a funeral when a person who lived in the area dies outside a hospital and with no-one able or willing to pay.

Local authorities try to find living relatives or friends of the deceased and can pass responsibility for costs to them.

%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-family-stories%Councils carried out 2,580 public health funerals in a 12-month period in 2013-2014, a rise of 11% on 2009-2010, the BBC said.

The cost to councils for the 2013-2014 period, after some costs were recovered, rose by 28% to £1,719,329.

The number of public health funerals held in the south-east of England rose by 24%, the largest rise in the UK, while the biggest increase in cost was in the south-west of England, the BBC said.

Some industry experts said more people simply cannot afford to pay for funerals.

Tim Morris, chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematoria Management told the BBC: "I think more people are being trapped in funeral poverty - that is, they just can't afford funerals."

Mark Woollard, from the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors said the rise is down to more people living longer, and often alone, and blamed third party costs.

He told the BBC: "I think there's been an increase in public health funerals because people don't have as much disposable income, and also, people are living longer and alone."

"A lot of (the cost) is due to third-party costs such as crematorium fees, cemetery fees, and the minster's fees - (which) have gone up much more than the funeral directors' costs."

The BBC said 300 of the 409 councils responsible for public health funerals gave full responses to the FOI request.



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