NAFD makes the case for realistic Social Fund payments

At one of the most important Ministerial meetings of the year, the NAFD joined representatives of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group for a meeting at the Department for Work & Pensions on March 6 with Social Fund Minister James Plaskitt MP.

The main topic of discussion was the inadequate level of the Social Fund payment. The Group pointed out that the price cap was last raised in April 2003 and that, since then, the Retail Price Index has increased by 16.4%. Meanwhile, the average cost of the NAFD The Simple Funeral Service in March 2007 was £1,050.70 (NAFD Pricing Survey, May 2007).

Mr Plaskitt and his advisors were also made aware that, although the £700 cap has been frozen for five years, during the same period doctors’ fees for the completion of cremation forms have risen from £91.00 to the current level of £142.00 – a rise of some 56%.

“It was very much a ‘gloves off’ discussion, which left the Minister in no doubt as to the profession’s strength of feeling about the unfairness of the current arrangements,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.

“Since the Treasury has cut the Department for Work & Pensions budget by 5%, the Minister was never going to throw money our way, but we were encouraged by the fact that Mr Plaskitt recognised the situation is unacceptable and there is a need to put in place a process to address the problem.”

At the meeting, the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group tabled a number of potential solutions for consideration by the Department for Work & Pensions, including:

An immediate increase in the £700 price limit to reflect the cost of the NAFD The Simple Funeral Service;
Index-linking the price cap, which will ensure fairness and do away with the need to negotiate on future increases;
Clarification for the funeral industry, Department for Work & Pensions staff and the bereaved as to exactly what is covered by the Social Fund payment;
Removing the Minister/Secular Officiant’s fee from the Social Fund payment and treating it as a disbursement;
The introduction of a complete local price cap on Social Fund payments based on the cost of the local crematoria, the Minister’s fee (set by Parochial Fees Order), Doctors’ fees (as recommended by the British Medical Association) and the cost of the NAFD The Simple Funeral Service. Any fees outside this, such as the purchase of a burial plot, would not be covered by the Social Fund payment.

“Given that we have come up with some practical proposals, the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group solutions is optimistic that one of them can be agreed, enabling us to address what the NAFD considers to be the biggest issue facing the profession,” adds Mr Slater.

“The Minister made it clear he has a genuine desire to find a solution which will be acceptable to all parties, and the Group has offered to work with his advisors to further explore the proposals that were presented at the meeting.

“Needless to say, this subject will remain at the top of the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group’s agenda until a satisfactory solution is achieved.”