HC Deb 06 November 1978 vol 957 cc35-6W
Mr. Bowden

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the average cost of a funeral the present death grant of £30 now represents compared with its value in the year when it was first introduced.

Mr. Orme

The £30 death grant represents at present about 15 per cent. of the cost of an average funeral. The £20 grant, introduced in 1949, then represented about 60 per cent. of the cost.

Mr. Arthur Latham

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the average cost of a funeral the present death grant of £30 now represents compared with its value in the year when it was last raised.

Mr. Orme

The £30 death grant represents about 15 per cent. of the present cost of an average funeral. It is estimated that it represented rather more than 35 per cent. of the cost in 1967, when it was last increased.

Mr. Bowden

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimates are available for the number of elderly people who do not qualify for a death grant, or who only qualify for a reduced grant; and what would be the cost of including these in the scheme.

Mr. Orme

It is estimated that there are at present about 150,000 elderly people who, on their death, will not qualify for a death grant and about 1,150,000 who will qualify for only a half-rate grant. To pay a full grant in these cases would cost about an extra £3 million a year.

Mr. Arthur Latham

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what figure the present £30 death grant would need to be increased in order for it to equal the value of the grant when it was first introduced in 1949.

Mr. Orme

Based on the movement of the General Index of Retail Prices up to September 1978, the latest date for which a figure is available, the present grant of £30 would need to be increased to over £123 to restore the value which the £20 grant had in 1949, when it was introduced.

Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has plans to increase the death grant.

Mr. Orme

I have no plans to increase the grant at present. Its level is kept under review, but when resources are limited a choice has to be made between competing priorities. In these circumstances, the Government have thought it right to concentrate on protecting, and where possible improving, the position of pensioners, families with children and the disabled.