The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes says he is continuing to fight for more support for people unable to afford a funeral for loved ones.
He is looking for a government review into the cap on funeral expenses payments which was frozen 15 years ago.
Sir John claims the average price of funerals has increased by 112 per cent since then.
He has also argued in the House of Commons that “The Government should issue statutory guidance to every relevant local authority describing in detail best practice in the conduct of public health funerals.”
Sir John was among the MPs to back colleague Carolyn Harris’ successful bid for the fees for all children’s burials and cremations to be waived by local authorities and met instead by government funding.
Speaking in the House of Commons last week he asked for an update on when those measures would be brought in.
Sir John said to the house: “Funeral poverty blights our nation. That some of the poorest Britons cannot afford to give those they have cherished, and now for whom they grieve, a decent final farewell pains them and shames us.
“The bereavement fund was frozen a long time ago by a previous government and is no longer fit for purpose, so will the Leader of the House arrange for a Minister to come here and give details as to how that fund can once again be made effective?
“Perhaps that Minister might also provide a reply to the letter written by me, Carolyn Harris and others, requesting details of when the children’s funeral fund that was announced by the Prime Minister will actually begin to have effect.
“Each day’s delay adds fear to the heartbreak already felt by those who have loved and lost.”
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, vowed to take the matter up.
