The Competition and Market’s Authority have completed a comprehensive investigation into the funeral market. The government is carefully considering the recommendations made in the final report and will be issuing a response shortly.

In regard to the cost of funeral services; the Competition and Market’s Authority are continuing to look at pricing controls and will commence their monitoring programme soon. Additionally, the Government helps with the cost of funeral services for many bereaved families through the funeral expenses payment scheme and the Children’s Funeral Fund.

My Department published non-statutory public health funeral guidance on September 16 2020. This was developed following feedback from some local authorities that they would value information on good practice and suggested guidelines which they could draw upon to inform their local policies.

This guidance is non-statutory therefore it does not create any new requirements local authorities must adhere to. The guidance suggests that publishing a written policy on public health funerals on their website, which can be accessed in a range of formats and languages, could be a helpful approach for local authorities to take so that the public are aware of the local arrangements for public health funerals.

The Competition and Market’s Authority have completed a comprehensive investigation into the funeral market. The government is carefully considering the recommendations made in the final report and will be issuing a response shortly.

In regard to the cost of funeral services; the Competition and Market’s Authority are continuing to look at pricing controls and will commence their monitoring programme soon. Additionally, the Government helps with the cost of funeral services for many bereaved families through the funeral expenses payment scheme and the Children’s Funeral Fund.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently undertaking a full market investigation into the supply of services by funeral directors at the point of need and the supply of crematoria services, in light of the findings of a preceding market study. The CMA’s Provisional Decision Report on the market investigation was published on 13 August 2020, and it is required to publish its final report by 27 March 2021.

The Government is grateful for the CMA’s provisional findings and will give full consideration to its final report in due course.

The DWP Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income based benefits including Universal Credit.

The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and, in April 2020, the additional element that can help with expenses such as the costs of a coffin or the services of a funeral director was increased from £700 to £1000.