Twelve individuals die each day with out household or mates to rearrange their funeral, sombre figures present.
There have been 4,400 pauper’s funerals carried out in England final yr after no family members could possibly be recognized to pay for them or full formalities.
And that quantity is on the rise amid a 13 per cent year-on-year improve, in response to the Native Authorities Affiliation.
Public well being funerals (PHFs) are a final resort and organized by councils solely when an individual dies with out kinfolk who might be traced or with a household that’s unable to cowl the charges.
The price to taxpayers has additionally risen to £5.96 million final yr, up from £5.63 million in 2021/22.
Twelve public well being funerals (PHFs) are held each day for individuals who haven’t any household or mates to bury them, a 13 per cent year-on-year improve (file picture)
Native councils have spent a complete of £21million on PHFs previously 4 years alone (file picture)
The Native Authorities Affiliation survey discovered that 62 per cent of councils in England stated the most typical purpose for a pauper’s funeral in 2022/23 was an absence of family members.
In the meantime, native authorities have spent a complete of £21million on PHFs previously 4 years.
Heather Kidd, chairman of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, stated: ‘The rising variety of public well being funerals is a transparent instance of how councils are having to do extra with much less, whereas additionally persevering with to make sure that essentially the most weak in our society are handled with dignity.’
The survey, based mostly on information from 109 councils, discovered 84 per cent had been conversant in finest practices for finishing up PHFs, whereas solely 63 per cent supplied details about how one can entry them.
