1-12 of 12 results for subject:Funerals
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Lord Sainsbury of Turville
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Sainsbury of Turville, Lord (12)
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My Lords, I think that my noble friend is referring to a report mentioned in The Times on 18 January, which suggested that there was a 61 per cent increase between 2000 and today in the cost of a funeral. That report has not been published, so it is not possible to comment on it in detail. However, if there is any sense of anti-competitive behaviour in relation to competition law that is something for the Office of Fair Trading, whose attention should be drawn to it. Since its report, the OFT has done much work to improve issues such as transparency. As for funeral payments, the amount allowable covers the necessary costs of specified items, including burial or cremation fees, plus up to £700 for all other funeral expenses. So, to some extent, it is indexed to actual costs.
My Lords, I think that my noble friend is referring to a report mentioned in The Times on 18 January, which suggested that there was a 61 per cent increase between 2000 and today in the cost of a funeral. That report has not been published, so it is not possible to comment on it in detail. However, if there is any sense of anti-competitive behaviour in relation to competition law that is something for the Office of Fair Trading, whose attention should be drawn to it. Since its report, the OFT has done much work to improve issues such as transparency. As for funeral payments, the amount allowable covers the necessary costs of specified items, including burial or cremation fees, plus up to £700 for all other funeral expenses. So, to some extent, it is indexed to actual costs.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Harrison
(Labour)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, given the sharp 61 per cent rise in the cost of burials and cremations, is my noble friend satisfied that the funeral services industry is competitive and transparent in the prices that it charges and in itemising the services that it makes under them? Perhaps I may refer my noble friend to the funeral service payments paid under the Social Fund to those in the lower income groups? Is he satisfied that those payments have kept pace with the increasing price of funerals over the past five years?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c638-9
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, I do not really feel competent to pass judgment on the good value or otherwise of the Church of England's services, but if it is a question of whether the Church of England is to be referred to the Office of Fair Trading, I can assure the right reverend Prelate that we have no intention of doing so.
My Lords, I do not really feel competent to pass judgment on the good value or otherwise of the Church of England's services, but if it is a question of whether the Church of England is to be referred to the Office of Fair Trading, I can assure the right reverend Prelate that we have no intention of doing so.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Bishop of Coventry
(Bishops (affiliation))
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, I think I should declare an interest. I speak as one who has taken more funerals than he cares to remember. Since the Question is about costs, does the Minister agree that the Churches and other faith communities give good value for money in the services that they offer? Not only is the fee considerably lower in the case of the established Church, compared with that charged by other authorities, it is also regulated annually by the General Synod. Does he agree that it is very good value, not simply for those reasons but because it represents not only the basic disposal of the body in a seemly manner but what we might call the after-sales service of ongoing pastoral care for the bereaved and their families?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c639-40
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, if my finances get rough in the future, I will bear that in mind.
My Lords, if my finances get rough in the future, I will bear that in mind.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Phillips of Sudbury
(Liberal Democrat)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, is the Minister aware that he can avoid even the modest charges of the Anglican Church by being lawfully and properly buried in a hole in his own back garden?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c640
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness. That is an area where the OFT is working with consumers to provide a code. Issues like pre-payment are very relevant. The OFT also publishes on its website advice to consumers about funerals.
My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness. That is an area where the OFT is working with consumers to provide a code. Issues like pre-payment are very relevant. The OFT also publishes on its website advice to consumers about funerals.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Baroness Greengross
(Crossbench)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, is there some way the Minister could inform people or arrange that they are better informed about pre-paid funerals, which the noble Baroness, Lady Sharples, mentioned? We know that people on the lowest incomes tend to pay most for funerals proportionate to their income and that, especially now, with more people living on their own, many want to relieve their family of that burden, which is why they are going for pre-paid arrangements. If such arrangements were better known, many more might take advantage of that opportunity.
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c641
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, that is indeed one of the issues that the Office of Fair Trading has been considering.
My Lords, that is indeed one of the issues that the Office of Fair Trading has been considering.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Baroness Sharples
(Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is a good idea to pay some time in advance? Perhaps one would get a better deal that way
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c639
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, the sort of person we are talking of is one on social security payments. I am not aware that the noble Lord, Lord Renton, comes into that category. It seems to me that the level at which he pitches his funeral is a matter of choice. We are dealing here with a social problem, and the Government therefore have to make some estimate of that.
My Lords, the sort of person we are talking of is one on social security payments. I am not aware that the noble Lord, Lord Renton, comes into that category. It seems to me that the level at which he pitches his funeral is a matter of choice. We are dealing here with a social problem, and the Government therefore have to make some estimate of that.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Renton
(Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, having chosen my parents very carefully and having reached the age of 97, I have to say that it would be impossible to estimate the cost of my funeral. If the Government set themselves that task, they are unlikely to be very effective or accurate.
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c639
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, it is delightful to get this kind of information about different parts of one's life. I will follow the noble Lord's advice on the matter.
My Lords, it is delightful to get this kind of information about different parts of one's life. I will follow the noble Lord's advice on the matter.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
(Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, has the Minister ever read The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson? If not, after today, may I commend it to him?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c640-1
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, I think that the relevant department is the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and I will draw the noble Lord's point to its attention.
My Lords, I think that the relevant department is the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and I will draw the noble Lord's point to its attention.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Razzall
(Liberal Democrat)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, does the Minister accept that it is not only the private sector that provides funeral services? In large areas of the country, local authorities subsidise them, particularly the crematoria. Is he aware that in certain areas there is now a view that people must decide on whether the bereaved is to be cremated or buried, because of the rocketing costs? Will the Minister press his equivalent in what used to be called the Department of the Environment—I am not sure what it is now called—to ensure that that point is taken into account in the arcane process of subsidy to local authorities?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c639
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, those were exactly the issues that the OFT's report considered. It was most concerned about the need for people to have good information at a time when they were extremely vulnerable. It has been working with the industry to produce a consumer code approval scheme with the aim of self-regulation in this area.
My Lords, those were exactly the issues that the OFT's report considered. It was most concerned about the need for people to have good information at a time when they were extremely vulnerable. It has been working with the industry to produce a consumer code approval scheme with the aim of self-regulation in this area.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Chidgey
(Liberal Democrat)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, I shall press the Minister on an issue of considerable concern a few years ago, namely the mis-selling of pre-paid funeral plans, which hardly fall into the category that he has just been referring to. He will recall, I am sure, that there was concern about the mis-selling of those plans to the most vulnerable; that is, the aged and infirm. Have the Government's actions to regulate those plans been successful?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c640
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, there is considerable differentiation in cost between different parts of the country, attributed by many people to the fact that there is a difference in the cost of plots of land. I am not in a position to say when the Home Office report on burial will come out, and I will ask my noble colleague to give the noble Lord the answer to that question.
My Lords, there is considerable differentiation in cost between different parts of the country, attributed by many people to the fact that there is a difference in the cost of plots of land. I am not in a position to say when the Home Office report on burial will come out, and I will ask my noble colleague to give the noble Lord the answer to that question.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Harrison
(Labour)
Type
Oral answers to questions
My Lords, I remind my noble friend that he is the Minister for the late payment directive. Burial costs are different in different parts of the country: £5,000 in London's Southgate, but £1,800 in Manchester. Will the Minister update us on the statement made by our noble friend Lady Ashton of Upholland about the consultation paper, Burial Law and Policy in the 21st Century, to which the Government were intending to respond this spring?
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c640
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
My Lords, in 2001 the Office of Fair Trading studied consumer issues in the funeral industry. It found high levels of satisfaction with the service received, and most people felt they received good value for money. The OFT drew no conclusions on price levels or competition in the sector, although it did make recommendations about the provision of information to consumers.
My Lords, in 2001 the Office of Fair Trading studied consumer issues in the funeral industry. It found high levels of satisfaction with the service received, and most people felt they received good value for money. The OFT drew no conclusions on price levels or competition in the sector, although it did make recommendations about the provision of information to consumers.
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Asked by
Lord Harrison
(Labour)
Type
Oral answers to questions
What assessment they have made of the rising costs of funeral services in the United Kingdom.
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c638
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords
What assessment they have made of the rising costs of funeral services in the United Kingdom.
What assessment they have made of the rising costs of funeral services in the United Kingdom.
Asked by
Lord Harrison
(Labour)
Answered by
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(Labour)
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
For answer on
7 March 2006
Answered on
7 March 2006
My Lords, in 2001 the Office of Fair Trading studied consumer issues in the funeral industry. It found high levels of satisfaction with the service received, and most people felt they received good value for money. The OFT drew no conclusions on price levels or competition in the sector, although it did make recommendations about the provision of information to consumers.
Subjects
Costs; Funerals
Date
7 March 2006
Reference
679 c638
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
House
House of Lords