The unequal cost of death
We take a look at the costs of burial and interment charged by local authorities across Somerset. Why the vast difference in cost? Why do local authorities not ask that question of themselves?
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The unequal cost of death
We are still in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Inflation may be coming down, but the extra costs already built into the system mean that the crisis is still very much with us.
One item you might not think about as contributing to that cost of living crisis is the cost of a death in the family. However you try to cut your cloth, the cost of handling a death is not going to be a small sum.
On top of the emotional trauma of dealing with the death of someone close to you, the burden of dealing with the administration of a death is not something to be trivialised.
The costs of handling a death can be broadly split into two parts. Those associated with the funeral ceremony on the one hand and those with the burial or cremation on the other.
There is an active “market” for providing funerals. There are lots of providers and a large range in the costs involved too. It all depends on the style, the pomp or lack of it you wish to send your dearly departed on their way with.
Funeral directors are now required, under the Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021, to display price information in a clear and prominent way both in their p[remises and on their website.
There should have no problem comparing prices and looking at the range of options available.
Public authority costs
However what we wanted to focus on for this piece, is the costs that are controlled by your local authority. Because where a service is managed by public bodies funded by the public purse, it is something that is, to some extent or other within our control.
The costs that are under public authority control are connected to burial in a cemetery.
Whether you choose to have the body buried or cremated, if you want to have remains interred, you’ll be dealing either with your local church or your local authority.
These days church burials are increasingly rare. Many churchyards are full and “closed” to future burials. And of course increasing numbers of churches are falling out of use themselves.
Many churchyards are full and “closed” to future burials
So for the vast majority of people, a burial in a cemetery will be handled by your town, parish or city council, or even the unitary authority, Somerset Council. Whoever it is who is managing the cemetery, they are known as the burial authority for these purposes.
They will own and manage the local cemetery. And when that is full they are responsible for finding suitable land to extend the existing cemetery. Or potentially open a new one if land near the existing cemetery is not available.
As these are public bodies offering a public service, you might imagine that there would be little variation in the cost of buying a plot and having a body interred in it from one part of Somerset to another. You’d be wrong.