‘Pauper’s’ funerals increase

SHOCK figures have revealed that Oldham Council has had to foot the the bill for 13 so-called pauper’s funerals so far this financial year.

As national trends point to increasing numbers of people dying alone, there’s often no friends or relatives willing or able to pay for their funeral.

Oldham Council has forked out almost £10,000 on funerals since April, last year. It also paid for 13 funerals between April, 2007, and April, 2008.

Cabinet member for adult social care and health, Councillor Brian Lord, said: “It is a sad fact that an increasing number of people die with no relatives to pay, arrange or even attend their funerals.

“So far, in 2008/2009, we have paid for 13 funerals. The average cost is around £750.”

According to Graham Easton, spokesman for the British Institute of Funeral Directors (BIFD), the national rise is a result of the increased number of people living in single households.

He said: “Within the next 10 years, more and more people in their 50s and 60s, who are more than likely to have been married and divorced, will be found dead with no relatives or friends who are traceable.”

When someone dies in these circumstances in hospital, the hospital trust takes responsibility for their funeral.

The Pennine Acute Trust revealed that 39 patients died at the Royal Oldham Hospital last year, with no apparent friends or relatives.

A team from the hospital managed to track down relatives or friends in 28 of these cases using social services records and media appeals, leaving the trust to organise and pay for 11 funerals.

The funerals take place at the Royal Oldham Hospital chapel where bodies are cremated.

A trust spokesman said: “When someone dies in hospital, we do our very best to track down any friends or family that person may have had.

“It is only on very rare occasions this is not possible. In these instances, the trust’s chaplaincy organises the funeral to try and give that person the dignity they deserve.”