Quaker Social Action began campaigning to end funeral poverty in 2014 when we launched our Fair Funerals Campaign, informed by Down to Earth’s frontline work. Since Fair Funerals ended in 2018, this advocacy work has been taken forward by Down to Earth.
We were instrumental in securing a full Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the funeral industry, which led to UK-wide legal requirements for funeral price transparency. We have advocated for and helped bring about changes in funeral and bereavement benefits through liaising with the DWP and Social Security Scotland. We also regularly use our voice to highlight the impact funeral poverty has on people’s wellbeing, including getting this included in the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2024 for the first time.
Our current areas of focus are on improving access to central government support for funerals, pushing for independent regulation for the at-need funeral industry and advocating for consistent standards for council funerals and improved practice from local authorities.
Our latest research
A patchwork of provision: council funerals across the UK
For the report we surveyed 102 council websites across the UK, analysing any information provided about council funerals and assessing its findability. Volunteers also made phone calls to 54 councils, taking on the role of the friend of a bereaved person who needed a council funeral. Our findings suggest 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). This report seeks to identify if anything has changed since our 2021 report, or if the problems we found are more widespread. It offers a unique insight into what it is like for a member of the public trying to get information and help, and shows that a compassionate, simple and equitable process is far from guaranteed in some parts of the country.
Download the full report here [PDF file]
Click on this link to read the Executive Summary and recommendations.
We have produced some guides to make it easier for local authorities to provide information about their council funeral policy on their websites.
To see the website information guide for local authorities in England and Wales, please click here.
To see the website information guide for local authorities in Northern Ireland, please click here.
To see the website information guide for local authorities in Scotland, please click here.
Our past research
An abdication of duty? Local authorities and access to public health funerals (2021)
Media and news pieces
2024
The Price of Dying (segment on ITV Tonight report by Adam Shaw, May 2024)
Cost of dying reaches record high in UK, new report reveals by Maryam Zakir-Hussain (The Independent, January 2024)
‘How are we going to pay?’ Carer ‘overwhelmed’ by funeral costs after mother and sister die within months by Maryam Zakir-Hussain (The Independent, January 2024)
QSA responds to the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2024 (QSA, January 2024)
2023
Funeral Poverty Alliance continues to call for an increase to funeral benefits (QSA, July 2023)
CMA moves to enforce funeral price transparency (QSA, February 2023)
Council funerals have doubled since 2019 by Katharine Swindells (The New Statesman, January 2024)
QSA submits funeral poverty report to the UN (QSA, January 2023)
2022
All Consuming - Funerals presented by Charlotte Williams and Amit Katwala (BBC podcast, October 2022)
Too poor to die: the rise of crowdfunded funerals by Sian Bradley (Huck Magazine, November 2022)
QSA has reported 240 funeral directors to the CMA (QSA, December 2022)
2021
QSA gives evidence to the UK Commission on Bereavement (QSA, December 2021)
CMA Order on funeral price transparency now fully in force (QSA, September 2021)
QSA responds to CMA Order on funeral industry (QSA, May 2021)
2020
QSA responds to CMA provisional decision report on funeral industry (QSA, September 2020)
Bereaved families during Covid crowdfunding funerals by Maighna Nanu (Huffington Post, August 2020)
A decent funeral shouldn't be down to finances by Lindesay Mace (Metro, July 2020)
Debt fears for grieving families as cremation prices soar by Harriet Sherwood (The Observer, July 2020)
Funeral costs rise despite reduced services by Emily Unia and Paul Lynch (BBC, July 2020)
Funeral reforms pushed back due to Covid by Sam Meadows (The Telegraph, August 2020)
Funeral costs continue to rise despite limited services by Sam Meadows (The Telegraph, July 2020)
Students face hidden debt trap when loved ones die by Chris York (Huffington Post, July 2020)
QSA responds to CMA on funeral industry (QSA, July 2020)
2019
QSA welcomes Funeral Expenses Payment application changes (QSA, August 2019)
Pay Now, Grieve Later: An interview with Lindesay Mace (QSA, with podcast episode by Ice&Fire, April 2019)
Amanda's journey: One mother's battle to pay for her son's funeral (QSA, with short film by The Guardian, April 2019)
The funeral industry is preying on grieving people - this must stop by Claire Brandon (The Guardian, March 2019)
Follow Down to Earth campaigns on X (Twitter) @endfuneralpov