Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people applied (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully to her Department for a grant towards the costs of a funeral in the most recent 12 months for which data are available.

The most recent month of data available is May 2018.

In the period June 2017- May 2018, there were 25,697 awards of Funeral Expenses Payments in Great Britain. This includes awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal following an initially unsuccessful application.

In the period June 2017 – May 2018, there were 14,680 initially unsuccessful applications for Funeral Expenses Payments in Great Britain. The number of initially unsuccessful applications is not equal to number of people who unsuccessfully apply for a Funeral Expenses Payment, as individuals may make multiple applications in a given time period.

Applications that were initially unsuccessful may have resulted in an award after review, reconsideration or appeal. As a result some applications may be counted in both of the above figures.

Figures are drawn from the Social Fund Policy, Budget, and Management Information System. The figures do not include applications that were processed clerically and have not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.