Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the average cost of a funeral in each year since 2003.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce estimates for the average cost of a funeral.

The average Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) made in each year is published in the Social Fund Annual Report. Table 1 below provides the average FEP made in each year since 2003/04. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1.

Table 1: Average FEP award, 2003/04 – 2017/18

Source: Social Fund Annual Reports 2003/04 – 2016/17, Social Fund Policy Budget and Management Information System

Notes

1. The figure for 2017/18 is drawn from the Social Fund Policy Budget and Management Information System as the Social Fund Annual Report 2017/18 is not yet published.
2. The average award is the average payment net of returned payments (including appeals). This is calculated by taking the total value of payments in a given year (net of returned payments) and dividing by the total number of payments in a given year, as recorded in the Policy, Budget and Management Information System.
3. These averages include awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal following an initial refusal.