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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Funerals: Costs (10 July 2018)

Question Asked

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.

Asked by:
Mr Toby Perkins (Labour)

Answer

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

Year

Average FEP award

2003/04

£1,019

2004/05

£1,051

2005/06

£1,081

2006/07

£1,117

2007/08

£1,162

2008/09

£1,194

2009/10

£1,208

2010/11

£1,217

2011/12

£1,241

2012/13

£1,225

2013/14

£1,347

2014/15

£1,375

2015/16

£1,410

2016/17

£1,427

2017/18

£1,461

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.

Answered by:
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative)
18 July 2018

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.