Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing discretionary payments for bereavement support.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made, however, the Department already has a wide range of financial support available to those affected by bereavement.
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is a contributory benefit intended to help working age people with the immediate costs of bereavement. BSP is payable to the surviving spouse, cohabiting partner (with dependent children), or civil partner of the deceased. Funeral Expenses Payments contribute towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone in receipt of income-related benefits, and Budgeting Loans and Budgeting Advances are interest-free loans available to claimants of income-related benefits. Further support for day to day living expenses is available via Universal Credit.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average amount paid to individuals for each passported benefit, including (1) funeral payments, and (2) maternity grants.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are many passported benefits, for example free prescriptions and free school meals. The information provided relates solely to Funeral Expenses Payments and Sure Start Maternity Grant.
Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) provides help towards the cost of a funeral. To be eligible for FEP, you (or your partner) must get one or more of the following benefits: Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, the disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. You might also be eligible if you’re getting a Support for Mortgage Interest loan. This is in addition to other eligibility criteria which is available here: Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment): Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG) is payment of £500 to provide help with the costs of a new baby (or babies in the event of a multiple birth) if there are no other children under 16 in the claimant’s family. To be eligible for SSMG, you (or your partner) must get one of these benefits: Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit that includes a disability or severe disability element or Universal Credit. You may also qualify if you’re getting a Support of Mortgage Interest Loan. This is in addition to other eligibility criteria which is available here: Sure Start Maternity Grant: Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The table below provides information of the average award for both FEP and SSMG. Information on average awards along with other data such as number of awards can be found in Annex 1 of the Annual Social Fund Reports which can be found here: Social Fund accounts and reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The 2021/22 Social Fund Report is due to be published in the near future and thus the data below goes up to 2020/21.
Table 1: Average award for Funeral Expenses Payments and Sure Start Maternity Grant
£ | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 |
FEP | 508 | 508 | 508 |
SSMG | 1,838 | 1,561 | 1,517 |
Notes:
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of financial support for widows and widowers who do not receive their late spouse's state pension following the introduction of the bereavement support payment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made, however, the Department has a wide range of financial support available to those affected by bereavement.
Funeral Expense Payments contribute to the cost of a funeral arranged by someone in receipt of income-related benefits, and Budgeting Loans and Budgeting Advances are interest-free loans available to claimants of income-related benefits. Bereavement Support Payment helps working age people through the difficult period following bereavement when their spouse, civil partner (or cohabiting partner if there are children) dies. Further support for day to day living expenses is available via Universal Credit.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the financial criteria for eligibility for the Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme; and what was the average proportion of funeral costs that this scheme covered in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a simple, respectful funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income related benefits or tax credits.
The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and offers up to £1000 to meet other funeral expenses such as, the cost of a coffin, church and funeral director fees. In April 2020, we increased the maximum amount families can claim for these additional costs by 43%, from £700 to £1000, providing vital financial support to families grieving the loss of a loved one.
The average FEP award in 2020/21 was £1,838, while the average cost of a cremation was £3,765 and average cost for a burial funeral was £4,927. (Costs vary significantly by region).
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Funeral Expenses Payment eligibility criteria to include low-income families, in addition to those receiving means-tested benefits or tax credits.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a simple, respectful funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income related benefits or tax credits. The financial assistance offered through the FEP scheme is closely targeted at those who need it most.
The Government has no plans to extend the Funeral Expenses Payment eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of financial support available for families with funeral costs.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a simple, respectful funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income related benefits or tax credits.
The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and offers up to £1000 to meet other funeral expenses such as, the cost of a coffin, church and funeral director fees. In April 2020, we increased the maximum amount families can claim for these additional costs by 43%, from £700 to £1000, providing vital financial support to families grieving the loss of a loved one.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for Funeral Expenses Payment were (a) made and (b) successful in each month since February 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) applications received and awards made, since February 2021 up until January 2022, is provided in the table below, for England and Wales.
Month | Applications received | Awards |
February 2021 | 4,853 | 2,449* |
March 2021 | 4,763 | 3,790 |
April 2021 | 3,392 | 2,976 |
May 2021 | 2,834 | 1,957 |
June 2021 | 3,368 | 1,912 |
July 2021 | 2,873 | 2,055 |
August 2021 | 3,178 | 1,854 |
September 2021 | 3,454 | 2,515 |
October 2021 | 3,124 | 2,114 |
November 2021 | 3,309 | 2,184 |
December 2021 | 2,749 | 1,801 |
January 2022 | 3,098 | 1,719 |
FEP data sourced from the DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System (PBMIS). *The FEP award figure for February 2021 is an estimate using unaudited internal DWP figures on the number of FEP loans, as this could not be sourced from the PBMIS data for February 2021. |
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time for applicants to the Funeral Expenses Payment is in the West Midlands since September 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We cannot provide the average waiting time for applicants to the Funeral Expenses Payment on a regional level, as requested.
However, Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT), for Great Britain, is reported annually in Section 4 of the Social Fund Annual Report, up to 2020/21:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2020-to-2021
For 2020/21, the AACT in Great Britain was 20.3 days.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the rules governing eligibility for the Funeral Expenses Payment to provide discretion for another close family member to be granted the payment in circumstances where the partner of the deceased is unable or unwilling to take responsibility for a funeral.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to amend the eligibility criteria for Funeral Expenses Payment.
To receive support through the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme, a person must be in receipt of a qualifying income-related benefit and be the person responsible for making the funeral arrangements. In cases where the deceased has a surviving partner, they are considered to be the responsible person. Where there is no surviving partner or the surviving partner was estranged from the deceased at the time of death, an immediate family member (parent or child), a close relative or a close friend may be considered for help through the scheme.
Where the surviving partner of the deceased was not estranged but is unable to act on their own behalf, a person, or a body of people, may apply to act on their behalf as an appointee. If a surviving partner is able to act on their own behalf and but is not estranged or willing to take responsibility for the funeral arrangements, a Funeral Expenses Payment cannot be awarded to another family member. They could, however, apply for a Budgeting Loan or a Universal Credit Budgeting Advance to help pay towards the cost of a funeral, if they meet the eligibility criteria.
In certain circumstances, Public Health funerals are provided by local authorities.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to help reduce the level of local authority burial fees; and what support the Government provides to people who cannot meet the cost of burials.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Local authorities are responsible for their own budgets and making decisions on local spending in line with local priorities. This is entirely appropriate, given that central government cannot predict exactly what the cost of a local service will be. In line with this principle, public burial authorities have the power to set their charges at levels they consider to be appropriate.
The Funeral Expenses Payments scheme provides a significant contribution towards the cost of a simple, respectful funeral arranged by recipients of certain income based benefits or tax credits. The scheme pays necessary burial and cremation costs in full, as defined by legislation, plus up to £1000 for other expenses such as the cost of a coffin, church and funeral director fees, Scotland has a similar scheme, the Funeral Support Payment scheme. Support for funeral costs for all young people under 18 is provided by the Children’s Funeral Fund for England, with similar schemes in Scotland and Wales. Interest-free Social Fund Budgeting Loans and Universal Credit Budgeting Advances can also be used for funeral expenses. Further financial support is available through Bereavement Support Payments which help working age people whose spouse or civil partner dies.