Today, 15 November 2022, QSA and people from 14 other organisations have written to The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
We are calling for the capped element of the Department for Work and Pensions' funeral-related benefit, the social fund funeral expenses payment (FEP), to be increased to reflect rises in average funeral prices. The open letter was prepared and co-ordinated by Lindesay Mace, QSA's co-manager for our Down to Earth project which is working to tackle funeral poverty across the UK. You can read the letter below.
"Dear Secretary of State
Congratulations on your appointment – we look forward to engaging with you around the issue of funeral poverty and its intersection with the benefits system.
We were pleased to hear you say in your first speech on 31st October that one of your “two early key missions” is to “pursue with vigour the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to us being a compassionate, caring Department supporting the most vulnerable”.
We believe some of the most vulnerable are those who are bereaved. As part of fulfilling this key mission, and with the autumn budget just round the corner, we urge you to increase the capped element of the social fund funeral expenses payment (FEP).
Eligible applicants for the FEP can receive ‘reasonable’ cemetery fees or crematorium and doctor’s fees, plus up to £1,000 to cover ‘other funeral expenses’. This includes items and services like funeral director fees, officiant fees, transport and care of the body, and a coffin.
However, this figure was capped at £700 in 2003 and has only been increased once since, to £1,000 in April 2020. Therefore, the real value of this element of the FEP has eroded each year. In 2020-21, the average total award was £1,838 – which was only 44% of the average cost of a “basic funeral” in the UK that year, leaving a significant shortfall for people to make up.
The stress people experience when they do not know how they are going to pay for the funeral of a family member or friend can take a significant toll on their mental health and impact their ability to grieve. Thousands of people are being affected, with 34,000 successful FEP claims in 2020/21 giving an indication of the scale of the problem of funeral affordability. It is incumbent on the government to act now to help people grieve in peace and reduce the levels of debt people are having to take on.
To account for the rise in average funeral prices and the recent spike in inflation we, the undersigned, call for the capped element of the FEP to be increased to at least £1,725, and linked to inflation going forward as the Funeral Support Payment is in Scotland.
Increasing the FEP has been recommended by the independent UK Commission on Bereavement, which launched its report Bereavement is Everyone’s Business last month. We urge you to do this now to provide vital support to thousands of people at a time of extreme pressure.
We would also be grateful to meet with you to discuss the issue and the heart-breaking experiences of many of the people we support.
We look forward to hearing from you as soon possible.
Yours sincerely,
Niall Cooper, Director, Church Action on Poverty
Alejandra Dubeibe Fong, Beneficiary Support Officer, Saint Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales)
Julie Dunk, Chief Executive, Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (on behalf of the Board of Directors)
Georgia Elms, Campaigns Ambassador, WAY Widowed & Young
Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive, Turn2us
Lisa Lund, Director, National Bereavement Service
Lindesay Mace, Down to Earth co-manager (influencing lead), Quaker Social Action (for correspondence)
Gareth McNab, Director of External Affairs, Christians Against Poverty
Dr Maya Mayblin, Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh
Alison Penny MBE, Coordinator, National Bereavement Alliance
Sam Royston, Director of Policy and Research, Marie Curie
Heather St Louis, End of Life Project Manager, Carers Network
Johnny Timpson OBE, Chairman, Absolute Military & Financial Inclusion Commissioner
Sarah West, Director of Campaigns and Communications, Dying Matters
Steven Wibberley, CEO, Cruse Bereavement Support"