HC Deb 20 February 1976 vol 905 cc853-4W
Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the present death grant was determined; what was the estimated cost of a funeral at that time; and what percentage the death grant represented of the total.

Mr. O'Malley

Death grant was raised to £30 in 1967, when the estimated cost of a simple funeral, excluding church and cemetery fees, was £48; it therefore then represented rather over 60 per cent. of that cost.

Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will tabulate in the Official Report the estimated costs for the various items involved in arranging a funeral; and what proportion of the total cost the £30 death grant represents.

Mr. O'Malley

Figures showing the average costs of the various items involved in arranging a funeral are not available. However, it is estimated that the average cost of a basic funeral, excluding church and cemetery fees, is about £125. The £30 death grant represents 24 per cent. of that figure.

Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if she will list in the Official Report those elements in the cost of a funeral for a male person of 84 years of age that are significantly less than the costs of a funeral of a male person of 82 years of age and account for the reduction in the death grant of 50 per cent. in the former case;

(2) if she will list in the Official Report those elements in the costs of a funeral for a female person of 77 years of age that are significantly more than the costs of a funeral of a male person of 84 years of age that account for the increase in death grant of 50 per cent. in the first case.

Mr. O'Malley

Payment of death grant at 50 per cent. of the standard rate depends on the date of birth of the deceased, not on the level of funeral costs. Those within 10 years of pension age on 5th July 1948 when death grant was first introduced—that is, men over 55 and women over 50—could have paid contributions for death grant for a maximum period of 10 years only, and for that reason the grant paid in respect of them is at the half rate.