Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many temporary mortuaries (a) have been built and (b) are in use as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and what the capacity is of each of those facilities.

Additional mortuary capacity has been procured by a range of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including central government departments, NHS trusts, local authorities and funeral directors, to ensure that the deceased are treated with dignity and respect. We do not hold detailed information on the capacity or utilisation rate of unlicensed private sector sites maintained by the estimated 5,000 or so funeral directors in England.

The Cabinet Office has procured units to provide up to 30,000 additional temporary mortuary spaces across the UK, as part of the government’s responsible contingency planning for a reasonable worst case scenario.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with local partners to support them in their preparations. The Ministry of Justice are working to support the sector, and are working with DWP to ensure the bereaved are supported, including speeding up the processing time for Funeral Expense Payments.