NAFD meets government officials to debate key issues

On October 13 representatives from the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) embarked on the first of another round of meetings with key government officials when the Cross Party Group for Funerals and Bereavement in the Welsh Assembly met to discuss the Social Fund, retained ashes, Pandemic Flu and memorial safety.

There was also a short presentation by Alex Glanville, Head of Property Services of The Church in Wales, on the issues relating to burial grounds in Wales. The Church in Wales owns 1,220 churchyards – 1,053 of which are burial grounds – which are maintained by the Parochial Church Council in each Parish and a 2006-07 survey commissioned by the Church of all clerics with churchyards in their care found that:

• Two thirds of its churchyards will have no more space for burial within 10 years
• Most churchyards are being maintained well but maintenance is less good when a churchyard is closed, boundary walls and paths being the main problems
• Volunteers give 125,000 hours of time across Wales to maintain churchyards, which is equivalent to £1.3m of paid labour
• There are £16 million of works identified for its churchyards with just £3.6m held in reserves to meet these costs.

Summarising the problems, Mr Glanville said that the majority of churchyards will soon be full, income from burials does not cover costs and although maintenance is generally good at present, there is significant repair liability which cannot be met by existing resources. The Church in Wales is therefore anxious to open a debate at a senior political level about these issues, as it wants its churchyards to be available for all as key community assets and considers that, once they are closed for burials, the onus should be on the Community Councils or Local Authorities to meet the costs of maintenance.

The Cross Party Group for Funerals and Bereavement in the Welsh Assembly appreciates that the debate will need to explore ideas at national and local government level for help in looking after these community assets and agreed to contact the Welsh Local Government Association and seek its views on possible solutions to the problems faced by The Church in Wales.

Many of the issues discussed by the Cross Party Group for Funerals and Bereavement in the Welsh Assembly will also be addressed by the Cross Party Group for Funerals and Bereavement in the Scottish Parliament (November 10), by the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group (November 23) and by the All Party Assembly Group for Funerals and Bereavement in the Northern Ireland Assembly (November 24) and NAFD representatives will be in attendance at each meeting.

On November 9 the NAFD will meet with Lord West, Home Office Minister for pandemic planning, and will sit down with Helen Goodman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Work & Pensions who is responsible for the Social Fund, ahead of the All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on November 23. An NAFD delegation will then travel to Brussels on November 30/December 1 to debate cross border issues such as repatriation with EU officials.

Although commentators are increasingly predicting a Conservative victory at next year’s General Election, the NAFD has not given up lobbying the current government for action in key areas, most notably an improvement in the way the Social Fund operates in respect of funerals. The situation is frustrating, given the announcements about severe cuts in public spending, but the Association is determined to continue to press for improvements that will benefit both funeral directors and the bereaved.

“The Government is seeking the opinions of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group in respect of the White Paper on the Social Fund which is currently out for consultation and we are maximising every opportunity not only to highlight the inadequacies of a cap on funeral payments and to call for an increase, but also to draw attention to the inconsistencies and delays in decisions that can leave funeral directors facing bad debt,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.

“Issues like Social Fund funeral payments are part of a much broader picture and it is the NAFD, on behalf of the profession, that is holding the Government and its elected representatives to account and has the wherewithal to deal with whatever comes out of the negotiations.

“There is considerable ongoing activity on the issues our members have highlighted as being most important – and which affect the entire profession – so it is vital that we maintain the pressure with an eye to developments after the 2010 election.”