MORE than £8,000 was paid out by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council last year on public health funerals, figures reveal.

Figures published by the borough council show it spent £8,530.49 in 2021 for 11 public health funerals – an increase of 28 per cent from 2020 when it paid £6,140.50 for seven public health funerals.

Public health funerals are provided by local authorities for people who have died and have no next of kin, or whose next of kin, relatives or friends are unable or unwilling to make the necessary funeral arrangements.

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Information on the government website states that they are designed to protect public health and are important in ensuring that individuals are treated with dignity and respect regardless of their circumstances.

Of the money spent on public health funerals in Basingstoke and Deane during 2021, the borough council has so far recovered £6,29739.

Of those given a public health funeral in Basingstoke in 2021, the majority – 10 – were male and only one was female.

There were five burials and four cremations, with two not yet confirmed. The most expensive funeral – a burial for a 62-year-old man from Basingstoke – cost £1,676.

The majority of those given a public health funeral were single or assumed single, with seven listed in this category.

One person was separated and two were widowed.

The youngest person to be given a public health funeral by the borough council last year was a 32-year-old man from Witney and the eldest was an 82-year-old man from Basingstoke.

When arranging public health funerals, the council organises for a burial or cremation at a time appropriate for the council and funeral director.

They provide a coffin to be taken to the cemetery in a hearse attended by bearers; provide a graveside service from a cleric of the deceased’s religion or humanist service; and in the absence of other mourners, the funeral is attended by a council officer.

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The council does not erect a memorial stone and the grave remains the ownership of the council.

The government advises councils to attempt to recover expenses for public health funerals to minimise costs to the taxpayer.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council spent at least £8,000 on public funerals last year as many of the costs were not included and were yet to be confirmed.

Legally, the council has first call on the deceased person’s estate and may collect money due or belongings which can be sold to offset the costs.

Any shortfall is borne by the council.