Costs up for funerals funded by taxpayers

The cost to taxpayers of burying or cremating residents who die alone or with nobody to arrange their funerals is increasing in the Black Country, figures have revealed.

Wolverhampton City Council paid out £24,000 for public health funerals in the 2009/10 financial year - a rise of more than £8,200 on the previous year.

The funeral services, costing an average of £600 each, saw 40 Wolverhampton residents buried by the state. In 2008/09, 38 people in the city had taxpayer-funded funerals at an average cost of £414 each.

South Staffordshire Council paid for four funerals in the same time period, costing around £3,037 in total.

Public Health funerals are paid for by councils when a resident dies outside of hospital and no friends or relatives can be found to pay for a burial.

They also include some cases where relatives can be traced but have refused - or simply cannot afford - to pay for even the most basic service.

Local authorities are required to step in under the Public Health Act 1984.

Figures published by the Local Government Association (LGA) show that the national average spent by local authorities on such funerals is £3,517 per year — part of a £1.5 million national yearly spend.

The local authorities are obliged to deal with all aspects of the funeral, including finding out the deceased's faith, registering the death, dealing with undertakers and organising a basic service.

They usually try to reclaim costs from any estate left by the deceased.

Figures revealed today showed that Sandwell Council paid £17,000 for 13 funerals in 09/10, up from £11,200 for 10 funerals in 08/09.

The average cost of a Lichfield District Council funded funeral is around £950.

That has stayed at the same rate for the last five years. In the last two years the council has spent £4,701 on 11 funerals.

Cannock Chase Council has held three funerals in the past year at a cost of £1,743.95

Sally Owen, Senior Administrative Officer with Wolverhampton City Council, said: "The deceased are afforded the same respect as anyone else as they are given a full service arranged by our partner funeral directors."