UK Economy So Bad Corpses Rot While Burials Delayed

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Grim precedent: A van containing bodies arrives for storage at a disused Liverpool factory as gravediggers strike in 1979

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Bodies of the dead not being buried in echo of
Winter of Discontent as effects of credit crunch
spread across Britain
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Daily Mail UK
By Glen Owen
13th October 2008

http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-1076679/Now-bodies-dead-...

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The spectre of the Winter of Discontent threatened to return to haunt Labour last night after funeral directors revealed that the burial of 'hundreds' of bodies is being delayed for financial reasons

Undertakers hit by the credit crunch are refusing to carry out funerals until the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed it will foot the bill

In a bleak new sign of the growing economic crisis, hard-up families are having to wait more than two months before receiving Government money for funerals

Organisations representing undertakers accused the Government of putting them in an 'impossible' position by dragging their feet over burial costs for poor families

Previously, undertakers would pay for the cost of funerals and wait to be reimbursed by the State, but the lack of credit in the banking system means many firms can no longer afford to do so


The Tories have demanded an emergency Commons debate on the issue

The row has ominous echoes of the Winter of Discontent in the dying days of the last Labour Government 30 years ago, when economic problems led to rubbish piling up in the streets and bodies lying unburied - symbols of political failure that did lasting damage to the party

The current problems stem from delays to payouts from the Department for Work and Pensions' Social Fund, which helps needy families with burial costs

They qualify if they can prove they are receiving benefits, were closely related to the deceased and do not have sufficient savings to meet the funeral costs


If authorised, they receive funeral costs up to a maximum of £700, plus additional sums averaging around £1,000

About 27,000 people claim a total of £46million for burials every year

But one leading chain of undertakers said there had been an increase in the time it took payments to go through

And John Weir, of the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, said the delays were putting undertakers in an 'impossible' position because many could not afford to carry out burials until the money arrived from the Government

'There are hundreds of people in this situation,' he said.
'Funeral directors are having to take a more commercial approach in these troubled times

'The normal gap between death and burial is about ten days, but the Government's stance means it can be more like five weeks and sometimes longer

'In these economic conditions, many directors now look to get payment in advance.
The Government is behind the delays and the hardship it is causing both families and funeral directors is very real
'
Daniel Kawczynski, the Tory MP for Shrewsbury, will table a question in Parliament this week after being contacted by grieving families

'There are no winners here, only victims,' he said.
'Hard-working funeral directors who are already feeling the pinch of the credit crunch are, in contrast to usual practice, having to refuse to undertake funerals without first receiving payment

'At the same time, the friends and family of the deceased are having to suffer the indignity of seeing their loved ones unburied while the Government dithers about making funeral payments

'Such is the state of public finances under Labour that we have the situation where the dead are not being buried.
The lack of action by the Government on this issue is unforgivable
'
One of his constituents is Clive Pugh, a Shrewsbury funeral director who is still waiting to bury a 77-year-old man who died on August 13

The dead man, a widower from Powys, Wales, had lived alone in rented accommodation until he became too ill to look after himself

He then moved in with his daughter, his only child, so she could care for him.
She and her husband, who have three children, exist on benefits and were unable to meet the funeral costs

The family's application to the DWP was made on August 18 but was not cleared until October 9.
The funeral will finally take place on Friday - nearly nine weeks after his death

'The daughter is being pretty stoic about it, but I feel terrible,' said Mr Pugh.
'I have had several of these cases this year

'I can't just lend out money unsecured and without interest - my outgoings are around £15,000 a month and if I didn't get the money upfront I would go bust
'
Alan Slater, chief executive of the National Association of Funeral Directors, recently led a delegation to the DWP to lobby for faster and more generous payments from the Social Fund

He said: 'Since 2003, the Government has frozen the maximum payment for the basic costs - the coffin, the collection of the deceased and paying the vicar - at £700.
It also gives another £1,000 for disbursements, which are the payments made by the funeral directors for charges such as cremation fees

'This is about £300 less than the typical cost of a funeral.
The rest has to be found by the families, such as by taking out a loan, or is absorbed by funeral directors who then end up out of pocket

'In addition, the time taken for a decision from the DWP now frequently runs into weeks.
This is putting funeral directors in a very difficult position and adds to an already traumatic time for families
'
A spokesman for Co-operative Funeralcare, the country's largest chain of undertakers, said: 'We would support any move to increase and speed up the payment of DWP funeral support

'We have noticed an increase in the time payments are taking to come through in some areas.
It is an issue of concern for all funeral directors, large or small, particularly in the current economic circumstances

'We would stress that we do not make families wait for funerals until DWP payments are made.
In common with many other funeral directors, we do ask for payment of the disbursements before the funeral takes place
'
The DWP denied it was dragging its feet over payments.
A spokesman said: 'It is obviously a difficult time for any family following the death of a relative and that's why we make sure applications are processed as quickly as possible, with the majority done in 16 days or less

'So that we can make payments quickly and ensure.