Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure local authorities (a) adhere to the Government’s public health funeral guidelines and (b) publish their policy and contact details online.

My Department published non-statutory public health funeral guidance on September 16 2020. This was developed following feedback from some local authorities that they would value information on good practice and suggested guidelines which they could draw upon to inform their local policies.

This guidance is non-statutory therefore it does not create any new requirements local authorities must adhere to. The guidance suggests that publishing a written policy on public health funerals on their website, which can be accessed in a range of formats and languages, could be a helpful approach for local authorities to take so that the public are aware of the local arrangements for public health funerals.