8th March

Funeral Costs Crippling Local Councils

The cost to councils and local authorities for Public Health Act funerals continues to increase year on year. The growing number of these funerals, and the decreased central government funding for local authorities, is adding pressure on already overstretched council budgets.

A recent report from Royal London found that 275 of 390 authorities, who responded and are responsible for statutory provision in Great Britain, spent in excess of £5.3m on Public Health Funerals in the year leading up to April 2018. On average, the cost per funeral is just over £1.4k with many authorities paying more, and the increase in the cost of PHA funerals across the UK is estimated to have risen by almost 30% to £1.7m in the past four years. If this trend continues, the cost could be £3.5m by 2022, and it could reach a staggering £5m by 2030.

Cases for PHA funerals can be referred to a local authority from various sources. This can include police, coroners, hospitals and residential care homes. The deceased person may have been in hospital, cared for by the local authority, or lived alone, and with no known next of kin, the responsibility for the funeral cost lies with the local authority, which means they are responsible not only for the arrangements, but for the cost of the funeral too.

Probate research genealogists, Finders International have a tried and trusted solution for tracing unknown beneficiaries whereby you won’t incur any risk or fees whilst observing best practice, and they can usually find next of kin extremely quickly, often within days, and at their own risk and expense.

Working with a genealogical researcher, or ‘heir hunter’, can often lead to the deceased’s relatives being located. In most cases there are living next of kin somewhere; they may be very distantly related or living abroad and they may have never even heard of the deceased, but they are still legitimate beneficiaries. Quickly tracing next of kin could help the council to alleviate the need for a PHA funeral or recoup costs and reduce time spent on each case, thus reducing pressure on tightly squeezed budgets.

Finders International Funeral Fund

 Assisting councils and local authorities with tracing a deceased person’s next of kin is just one of the ways the firm can help and at Finders International giving back to the community is an important part of their ethos and culture as an ethical organisation. This is why they have established the Finders International Funeral Fund, helping to cover the cost of Public Health Act funerals.

How can the fund help?

Local authorities or NHS trusts can now ask Finders International for a subsidy payment towards the cost of Public Health Act (PHA) funerals. These will
be cases where there genuinely are no known next of kin (rather than next of kin simply refusing to pay) and Finders will carry out research to confirm this.

For more information about the services Finders International provide click here:- https://publicprocurementonline.com/finders/