One of the most striking stories in today’s papers – and on the front of one of them – is the claim made by Labour’s Emma Lewell-Buck that people on low-incomes are struggling so much with the cost of funerals that they are having to resort to burying them in their back gardens.
Lewell-Buck was introducing a well-intentioned bill on the cost of funerals, which has been rising above inflation for a good long while. She told MPs:
‘People are also turning to alternatives to the traditional funeral. Some are holding do-it-yourself funerals, and even having to bury relatives in their back garden. A number of companies are offering cut-price funerals, including “direct” cremations that have no formal service attached to them.’
This all sounds rather Dickensian, doesn’t it? Except that it doesn’t seem to be what Lewell-Buck meant to say. My lobby colleague Rob Merrick, who covers Lewell-Buck’s constituency, spoke to her office yesterday and tweeted this clarification:
Clarification from Lab MP @EmmaLewellBuck – says people burying relatives in back gardens do so out of choice….not because they are poor
— Rob Merrick (@Rob_Merrick) December 9, 2014
It seems the reason people are having back garden burials is that they would like a back garden burial, rather than that their family is so hard up that they can afford nothing else. People on low incomes are eligible for help with the costs of a funeral from the Social Fund, with the average award being £1,225. Citizens Advice do say that they see people getting into debt because of the cost of a funeral. But it is quite difficult to find any examples of garden burials prompted by high costs and low incomes.
Yesterday I asked Lewell-Buck’s office for examples of back garden burials where those involved cannot afford anything else. This morning when I chased this, her staff told me that she is due to release something shortly. I wonder whether it will be a clarification.
UPDATE: Emma Lewell-Buck has released the following statement:
‘I am not at liberty to provide details relating to cases of home burials because the information was provided on a confidential basis.
However, some other cases are available on the internet highlighting people who have chosen this option.’
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