Overview

Local councils have a legal duty to carry out a funeral for someone who died in their area when no other arrangements are being made. However, this research shows that standards and access to help vary hugely across councils.

Aside from stipulations regarding the deceased person’s wishes for burial or cremation, there are no legal requirements around how councils fulfil their legal duty or what arrangements they make. Government guidelines are in place in England and Wales, but they are not consistently followed, and none exist in the rest of the UK.

When someone is dying and has no family or friends to arrange their funeral, they should be able to find out from their local council what will happen to them after they die. A bereaved person who is unable to make funeral arrangements, for instance because they have no way of paying for them, should be able to contact someone at the council who can advise them.

Reaching out to a council for help in these situations can demand courage and involve a host of complex emotions. The process needs to follow the law, be compassionate, simple and equitable. 

This new research shows that some of these things are far from guaranteed in parts of the country.

Key findings

• Government guidance not being followed: A survey of 102 council websites across the UK suggests that more than half of councils in England and Wales are not fully following Government guidelines on council funerals (sometimes known as public health funerals). More than a third (36) had no information online for the public about their council funeral provision and of the 66 that did, over a quarter (18) gave no contact details for people who need to notify their local authority of a death requiring a council funeral. (See the appendix for detailed data on individual councils.)
• Inaccurate information: 7 in 10 of the 66 websites that did have information contained incorrect or misleading information, with half of this wrong information relating to the circumstances in which a council funeral can take place.
• Labyrinthine journey: Phone calls to 54 councils reveal the unnecessarily labyrinthine journey bereaved people would have to go through to reach the right department at some councils. Only a third of correct departments (15 of 46) were reached in one call.
• Access denied: Where we were able to conclude our calls, nearly a quarter of councils (11 in 47) turned us away or presented us with significant barriers.
• Legal compliance in question: Nearly 4 in 10 councils appeared to interpret narrowly their legal requirement regarding the deceased person’s wishes, suggesting they could bury or cremate them against their wishes. Note - this is of the 46 councils that, through their online information or in a call, gave some indication of their legal duty in this area and/or respecting the wishes of the deceased.
• Lack of information: Of the 66 councils with online information, less than half (29) stated their policy on whether people can attend council funerals and only a quarter (17) clearly stated that cremated remains, or ashes, can be collected without restriction.
• Change is possible: 11 of the 40 councils we researched in 2021 have improved their online information, either by making changes to their existing information or providing some where there wasn’t any. However, five councils have dropped points and one has deleted their page.