Quaker Social Action, 17 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PJ
Dr the Baroness Altmann CBE
Department of Work & Pensions
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1 9DA
16th November 2015
Dear Baroness Altmann,
This is our first correspondence since your appointment as Minister of State in the Department of
Work and Pensions so we’d like to take this opportunity to say congratulations. It is good to know
that there is someone with your strong sense of social justice in this position in Government. It is
with this in mind that we are writing to you today.
In September 2014, the Funeral Poverty Alliance formed to act as a much needed not-for-profit
voice to campaign collectively against funeral poverty. The Alliance includes respected charities and
faith groups whose beneficiaries are affected by funeral poverty including the prominent
organisations Marie Curie, Citizens Advice Scotland, Macmillan, Cruse Bereavement Care and
Hospice UK (a full list of Alliance members in given in Appendix A). Among the membership of the
Alliance are several organisations supporting the increasing numbers of people struggling with
funeral debt.
The Alliance is facilitated by Quaker Social Action (QSA). Since 1867 QSA has delivered practical
responses to poverty. We run the Down to Earth project which supports people on low incomes
avoid financial problems paying for funerals. In 2014 we launched the Fair Funerals campaign to
tackle the underlying causes of funeral poverty.
Funeral Costs
We have, with the assistance of the insurer Royal London, been monitoring the rising cost of
funerals. The second annual Funeral Cost Index has just been published. The Index found that in
2015, the average cost of a funeral was £3702, a 3.9% increase year on year, and well above
inflation. The average cost of a burial funeral is now £4110 and the average cost of a cremation
funeral is now £3294. The price of funerals has now risen above inflation for the past 35 years, with
a cumulated increase of 300% in the last 20 years. This compares to a 150% increase in the
Consumer Price increase and a 150% increase for median earnings.
The cost of a funeral continues to rise and there is also marked discrepancies in funeral costs right
across the UK. The new Funeral Cost Index reveals the cost of a funeral continues to be a postcode
lottery. Funerals range from £2976, for a cremation in Greenock, to £7216 for a burial in Beckenham,
Kent - a difference of £4240. This suggests that more than just inflationary pressures are at work.
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The result of this is many bereaved people are getting into serious debt. According to the UK Cards
Association, in 2013 the highest value transaction on credit cards was “Funeral Services”, with an
average cost of £1114.
Problems with the Social Fund Funeral Payment
We should like to draw your attention to the operation of the Social Fund Funeral Payment (SFFP)
scheme and the increasing problem of funeral poverty. The Department of Work and Pensions
(DWP) is the custodian of this important scheme and the latest figures published by the DWP in June
2015 show that the average SFFP award rose by £28 (2014/15) while the average funeral cost rose
by £140.
When the SFFP began it was intended to cover the overall cost of a simple funeral, but over the last
12 years the value of grants awarded has been dramatically eroded in real terms. This leaves a
financial shortfall, pushing bereaved people on low incomes into unmanageable debt which they
often have no means of paying off. The average award in 2014-2015 was £1375, which covers
around a third of the cost of a basic funeral. During the same period nearly half of all applications
were turned down. Although in 2014-15 32,000 payments were awarded worth about £44 million,
the amount spent on the SFFP has only increased around £2 million since 1988. In 2014, insurers
Sunlife found that funeral poverty had increased 50% in just three years. Because SFFP applicants
have to wait for weeks to find out whether their claim has been successfully -by which time the
funeral will already have taken place- many are forced to commit to funeral expenses before they
know if they'll receive any support from the state.
Reforms needed
Members of the Funeral Poverty Alliance have come together to engage policymakers and seek
improvements to the funeral sector and the support and information provided to bereaved people
on low incomes. There are several opportunities to improve the way the SFFP is processed which
would alleviate distress to bereaved applicants whilst saving time and money to the Department
who administer the payment.
These issues were subject to a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the last Parliament and a Westminster Hall
Debate last month, which garnered much cross-party support). Following the Westminster Hall
Debate members of the Funeral Poverty Alliance met with senior civil servants at the Department of
Work and Pensions to discuss practical, positive solutions to improve the way the SFFP meets the
needs of bereaved people on low incomes. The Government has committed to give the issue of
funeral poverty more Parliamentary time in the near future.
We, and other concerned stakeholders, are pressing for

Policymakers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to follow the lead of the Scottish
Government and conduct a cross-departmental inquiry into the underlying interrelated
issues that are causing funeral inflation including; pressures on local authorities, the use of
burial space and the privatisation of crematoria and burial grounds.

A full and fundamental review of the SFFP as part of a wider review of financial support for
those facing bereavement.
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
A review of the SFFP response times. Currently the DWP has a target of 16 working days to
process applications (currently achieving an average of over 17 days) but for client of Down
to Earth, applications currently take around 30 days to process.

A review of the SFFP application process whereby a receipt can be sent upon application –
frequent “lost” applications cause particular pain.

A review of the SFFP application process whereby applicants are given eligibility checks as to
the likelihood of payment. This would save pain to the bereaved and significant time and
money saving to the DWP.

Policy makers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to take account of the experience in
Scotland where the removal of a necessity for additional medical certificates for cremation
has resulted in the differential between burial and cremation costs being reduced.

Wider funeral industry participation in the Fair Funerals pledge asking funeral directors to
provide clear, comparable prices so people know what they’re buying. It also asks them to
make their most affordable funeral visible to the public.
Representatives of the Funeral Poverty Alliance are keen to meet with and discuss the problem of
funeral debt and options for impacting this. Please contact Quaker Social Action at:
Email heatherkennedy@qsa.org.uk
Call 020 8983 5059
Yours sincerely
Heather Kennedy
Fair Funerals Campaigns Manager on behalf of the Funeral Poverty Alliance
Fair Funerals Campaign
is a project of
Quaker Social Action.
Manager: Heather Kennedy
fairfunerals@qsa.org.uk
Tel: 020 8 983 5059
@fairfunerals
#funeralpoverty
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