Social Fund reform moves a step closer

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) has welcomed the consumer White Paper A Better Deal for Consumers: Delivering Real Help Now and Change for the Future, which has pledged that the Government will publish a consultation document concerning the long-term reform of the Social Fund, and is now pushing for a meeting with the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to put forward the profession’s views.

The White Paper is an important step forward, since it will consider improvements to the administration of the scheme and ways in which the Social Fund can help people manage their finances. Following its petition to 10 Downing Street, the NAFD was asked to submit funeral directors’ views and is now liaising to set up a meeting with Helen Goodman MP, the Minister at the DWP with responsibility for the Social Fund, to discuss the consultation document and reiterate the industry’s concerns.

Reform of the system of Social Fund funeral payments remains top of the political agenda for the NAFD. It was discussed at the AGMs of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group in the UK Parliament and the Cross Party Group in the Welsh Assembly, at which Bill Olner MP and Mark Isherwood AM respectively were re-elected as chairman.

“This is Bill Olner’s last year as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group because he intends to stand down at the next election, so it was good to see the Group recognising the immense contribution he has made since he began overseeing the Group’s activities seven years ago,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.

“During the course of his chairmanship the Group’s membership has grown considerably and it is now recognised as an effective forum where funeral and bereavement issues can be discussed.”

In addition to industry concerns about the Social Fund, topics under discussion at the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group’s AGM included the latest developments on Pandemic Flu preparations and the need for a solution on retained ashes. Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes also raised the problems faced by his constituents who are asked to pay higher burial fees because they live outside the area.

A number of issues were also discussed at the AGM of the Cross Party Group in the Welsh Assembly, including the problem of retained ashes in Wales, Pandemic Flu planning, the Social Fund and memorial safety. The Group learnt that Dr Brian Gibbons AM, Minister for Social Justice and Local Government in the Welsh Assembly Government, had requested that the Ministry of Justice’s guidance for managing the safety of burial ground memorials be sent to all unitary authorities in Wales. The Group is now in contact with the Welsh Local Government Association to understand how the guidance was being adopted by local authorities in Wales.

“We are keeping up the pressure by continuing to raise our concerns about the Social Fund with parliamentarians as well as working with interested groups including the Church and the Citizens Advice Bureax,” adds Mr Slater.

“The publication of the consumer White Paper and promise of a consultation document is good news because it provides us with yet another opportunity to make clear the funeral industry’s views on how Social Fund funeral payments should be improved.”