Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce the cost of services provided by funeral companies.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently undertaking a full market investigation into the supply of services by funeral directors at the point of need and the supply of crematoria services, in light of the findings of a preceding market study. The CMA’s Provisional Decision Report on the market investigation was published on 13 August 2020, and it is required to publish its final report by 27 March 2021.

The Government is grateful for the CMA’s provisional findings and will give full consideration to its final report in due course.

The DWP Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important contribution towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of certain income based benefits including Universal Credit.

The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and, in April 2020, the additional element that can help with expenses such as the costs of a coffin or the services of a funeral director was increased from £700 to £1000.