Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were made to her Department for a grant towards the costs of a funeral between June 2017 and May 2018.

The Funeral Expenses Payment is a recoverable loan, rather than a non-recoverable grant.

In the period June 2017- May 2018, there were approximately 40,200 applications received for Funeral Expenses Payments in Great Britain.

This figure is drawn from the Social Fund Policy, Budget, and Management Information System.

Notes:

• The figure is rounded to the nearest 100.
• The figure relates to applications received by DWP, not applications processed. Some applications may have been withdrawn before a decision was made.
• The figure does not include applications that were processed clerically and have not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.
• The number of applications made in each year is not equal to the number of people who made applications in that year. An individual may make multiple applications in a given time period.