Public Health Funerals

A recent article What Happens When You Die Cashless and Alone, published on 23 May by the BBC, highlighted the growing demand for public health funerals and the pressures placed on local councils to deliver them.

A public health funeral is one that is organised by a local council in circumstances where there are no other options for it being funded, usually because no arrangements have been made and family members of the deceased are unable or unwilling to fund it, or untraceable. Local authorities will attempt to recover costs from the deceased’s estate, although this is often not successful, and investigations can stretch council resources.

According to the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2024, the average cost of a basic funeral is over £4,000, which is an amount that has significantly increased since the pandemic. At a time when the cost of living continues to rise, notably the cost of food and energy prices, the price of dying is often beyond the means of individuals and relatives. This has put greater pressure on local councils to deliver on their legal responsibility to organise public health funerals where there are no other options, regardless of whether funds can be recovered.

Julie Dunk, Chief Executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM), said:

It is reassuring that in difficult financial times, Wealden Council (referred to in the BBC report) are carrying out such fitting and sympathetic funerals for those who find themselves without anyone else to make funeral arrangements for them. The RHE Global training course on Public Health Act Funerals gives attendees the information and tools to help people make choices, and on the legal and moral duties for the local authority in terms of what they provide and how their costs may be recovered.

Resources

• Training: Public Health Act Funerals will be delivered by Julie Dunk on 3 July 2024 and has limited places available. Contact [email protected] to reserve your place, or visit RHE Training for a variety of training opportunities in specialist environmental health subjects.

• Procedures: See the Public Health Act Funerals procedure, available in RIAMS Libraries (subject to subscription).

• Discussion group: Join the Public Health Act Funerals discussion group for free in RIAMS Communities.

With thanks to Jeremy Manners MCIEH REnvH, RIAMS Chief Editor.