A shocking investigation by ITV news has found a seventy per cent rise in “paupers funerals,” over the last three years.
If that wasn’t shocking enough some of the councils do not allow family and friends to attend the funeral. Others won’t let the bereaved have ashes or even choose words and music.
Their investigation found:
- 300 councils across the UK responded to a freedom of information request
- Their responses revealed a 70% increase in paupers’ funerals over the last three years
- That’s cost the councils just over £4 million in the last financial year alone (£4,050,672)
There were 15,000 of these ceremonies last year. Many people will be shocked that in modern Britain so many citizens do not have the money to bury their relatives, in a respectful manner.
Frank Field, MP, chairman of the commons work and pensions select committee has previously described the number of paupers funerals as “sickening”.
He told the Sunday Times: “Even Dickens’s Mr Gradgrind would have been hard pressed to justify such treatment. This would make red-faced even the worst of the Poor Law commissioners of the 19th century.”
A government spokesperson said: “We understand that bereavement is an incredibly difficult time for people. Arrangements in place for public health funerals are a matter for individual local authorities and we’re committed to supporting local authorities with the funding they need in order to provide vital public services.”
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