Council bills for funerals rise by 90%

Councils are being forced to foot the bill for rising numbers of funerals as cash-strapped relatives cannot afford to pay, it has been revealed.

Authorities in the Midlands have seen an increase of up to 90 per cent in the number of services they had to bankroll in a calendar year.

In Sandwell there were 19 funerals paid for from council coffers in 2010/11, up from 10 in 2009/10. There were modest rises in both Wolverhampton, up to 42 from 37 and Dudley, 34 from 28.

Walsall Council paid out for 10 services in 2009/10 and only six the next year, but officials there have already forked out for nine in 2011/12.

There have been four council-funded funerals in Lichfield District so far this year, up from two in 2010/11.

So-called 'contract funerals' cost between £700 and £1,000, although authorities can sometimes recoup the cash later.

It comes as the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health claims that the economy is having an adverse effect on people's willingness to pay for relatives' ceremonies.

A survey of 348 environmental health chiefs in England and Wales found 51 per cent of authorities had observed an increase in family or friends unwilling or unable to contribute to the costs of a funeral.

David Kidney, the head of policy at the institute, said his organisation was concerned.

"It's partly a demographic issue – people are living longer," he said.

"The money they thought would see them through their lives expires before they do.

"It's also down to economics – families and individuals can't afford the funeral," he added.

Under the Public Health Act 1984, councils pay for a funeral if someone dies outside a hospital and there is no one immediately available to foot the bill.

Councils c an later attempt to reclaim the costs from the deceased's family.

Just over three-quarters of public health funerals conducted in 2010/11 were for men and more than half were for those aged over 65.