§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will set out the present percentages of the cost of an average funeral which are attributable to church fees, cemetery charges, funeral director's attendance and supervision, bearers, mourners' car, hearse, coffin and other charges, in the form used in the Price Commission report on funeral charges of March 1977 in respect of (a) an adult and (b) someone aged 17 years and under.
§ Mr. RossiNo recent information of this kind is available to my right hon. Friend. The information on funeral costs which the Department seeks from time to time from outside sources is restricted to estimates of overall average costs of a funeral, and not to any breakdown of those cost. Some helpful analysis of funeral costs as at 1974 is contained in chapter 3 of the DHSS research report No. 6, "Families Funerals and Finances", published in 1980.