Preparing your authority for a citizens’ assembly
Graham Smith, professor of politics at the University of Westminster, looks at how citizens’ assemblies should work with local authorities.
LGA: Councils need sustainable funding to deliver funerals
23/09/2024 Sustainable funding and long-term certainty are needed so local authorities can meet rising demand for public health funerals (PHFs), council bosses say. |
Councils to create memorial after funeral home incident
05/08/2024 Two councils have committed to creating a permanent memorial for those affected by an incident involving a funeral company in Yorkshire. |
Three arrested in connection with crematorium scandal
30/07/2024 Three people have been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and fraud by false representation in an investigation into the disposal of ashes. |
Police meet families about ashes found at funeral home
01/07/2024 Police and council officers have met with families who were identified in relation to ashes found during an investigation at a funeral home in Hull. |
Bodies removed from funeral home in fraud case
11/03/2024 Police have removed 34 bodies from the premises of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Yorkshire over concerns about the care of the deceased. |
Councils forced to ban funeral services due to coranavirus
06/04/2020 Three West Yorkshire Councils have been forced to suspend all new funeral services due to the coronavirus pandemic. |
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Mass graves a possibility as councils struggle to cope with number of deaths
30/03/2020 Burial and cremation services could be overwhelmed within weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, academics have warned. |
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Councils paying for more than 4,000 public funerals a year
08/01/2020 Councils are spending more than £6m a year on paying for public funerals, according to new research. |
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Council crematorium holds service with wrong body
16/12/2019 Coventry City Council has launched an investigation after a funeral service took place at a council-run crematorium with the wrong body. |
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Councils welcome increase in funeral expenses payments
06/11/2019 Councils leaders hope the increase in funeral expenses payments will help lower the number of public health funerals. |
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New fund to cover costs of children’s funerals
01/07/2019 Grieving families will no longer have to pay for their child’s burial or cremation under a new government scheme in England. |
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‘Pauper’s funerals’ cost councils £5.4m last year
09/01/2019 Local authorities spent nearly £5.4m on public health funerals in 2017/18, new research has revealed. |
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Burial fees for children are scrapped in England
03/04/2018 The prime minister has announced the launch of a fund to help parents who have lost a child meet the costs of the funeral. |
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Councils spend £4m on 'pauper's funerals' in 2015/16
17/01/2018 Local authorities spent £4m on public health funerals in 2015/16 - an increase of 36% over the past five years - new research has revealed. |
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Child burials fees to be scrapped in Wales
24/11/2017 Councils in Wales are to receive up to £1.5m in order to scrap burial and cremation fees for children. |
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Funeral debt at ‘all-time high’, research reveals
31/08/2017 Funeral debt has increased to an all-time high as funeral costs increase, research reveals. |
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New benefit launched in Scotland to cover cost of funerals
09/08/2017 A 10-point plan to help people struggling with funeral costs has been launched by Scotland's equalities secretary Angela Constance. |
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Bereaved families call for independent inquiry into baby ashes scandal
27/07/2017 Staff at Hull City Council failed to provide ashes for up to 57 families whose babies had been cremated, an internal investigation has concluded. |
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Paying for ‘paupers’ funerals’ in hard times
11/01/2017 William Eichler finds out why an heir hunting company is now offering councils help to cover the cost of paupers' funerals. |
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Labour: Autumn statement should include £10m for child funerals
24/10/2016 The Labour Party has asked the chancellor to allocate £10m in his Autumn Statement to help parents pay for the costs of child funerals. |
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Council chief releases report into baby ashes scandal
17/08/2016 The chief executive of Aberdeen City Council has vowed to implement a ‘culture change’ of management in the wake of the baby ashes scandal. |
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Council chief apologises after baby ashes report
29/06/2016 The chief executive of Aberdeen City Council has apologised unreservedly after a report heavily criticised how babies were cremated at local facilities. |
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Councils facing soaring cost of 'paupers' funerals'
30/11/2015 The cost to councils of a rising number of 'paupers' funerals' has shot up almost 30% in the past four years and now stands at a total of £1.7m, according to new research. |
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Bereaved face ‘postcode lottery’ over funeral costs
05/10/2015 Funeral costs have risen by 3.9% in the past year, with new analysis showing bereaved people are facing a ‘postcode lottery’ over fees. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.
