Taxpayer funded pauper funeral spending rises 25 PER CENT as more elderly die in poverty

Council-funded funeral spending is on the rise

IT should be the moment when you can count on family and friends to give you a great send off. So why are more old people having council-funded funerals?

When it comes to funerals, everyone wants an extravagant end of life celebration surrounded by family and friends. But the latest research has shown this expectation is far from reality, and that many lonely older people are having public health funerals paid for by the council.

Council-funded funeral spending has jumped by more than 25% in just four years, according to latest figures.

 



Spending has increased 25 per cent in four years



The largest number of these pauper funerals in the UK were held in the north-west of England, according to figures from a Freedom of Information request.

Since the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act came in to play in 1984, councils must arrange and bear the cost of a funeral when someone living in the area dies outside of a hospital and has no family or friends willing or able to pay for funeral costs.

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

 

In 2013-2014, councils carried out 2,580 of these pauper funerals in a 12-month period - a rise of over 10% on 2009-2010. The cost to councils for the 2013-2014 period, rose by 28% to a huge £1,719,329.

In the south-east of England, council-funded funerals rose by almost a quarter - the largest rise in the UK - whilst the biggest increase in cost came from the south-west. 

Some industry experts are blaming the rise in council-funded funerals on the fact people simply can’t afford to pay for the event and because people are living for longer.

 



Experts blame living longer and elderly poverty



Tim Morris, chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematoria Management said: "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.

 

Council funded emails are on the up

He said: "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 figures came from FOI responses from 300 of the 409 councils responsible for public health funerals.