M I L F O R D H A V E N T O W N C O U N C I L
Report of anInformal Meeting
of the Cemetery Fees Sub-Committee
held at the Town Hall, Milford Haven,
on Tuesday, 16th February, 2016 at 3:00 pm
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PRESENT
The Mayor (Councillor S. G. Joseph)
The Deputy Mayor (Councillor W. D. Elliott BA QTS)
The Chairman of the Public Works and Planning Committee
(Councillor E. R. Harries)
281. APOLOGIES:
Apologies for absence were received from the Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, Councillor Mrs. Y. G. Southwell.
282. TO MEET WITH MR. S. MORGAN, TOM NEWING AND SONS LIMITED:
The Mayor, Councillor S. G. Joseph said that Mr. Morgan had requested a meeting. The Mayor then welcomed Mr. Morgan to the meeting and asked him to explain his concerns.
Mr. Morgan said that he wanted Members to be made aware that 2 in every 3 applications to the Department of Works and Pensions for assistance towards funeral costs are rejected. If people do get help it does not cover the cost of a funeral.
Mr. Morgan was asked what the implications of this were. He replied that the Funeral Director is left with a shortfall. There are 12 graves in one of the Sections that have not been paid for and the Funeral Director has to write off the debt. Nationally, funeral poverty is serious because of local authorities increasing their fees. Tom Newing and Sons Ltd. has not increased their prices for 6 years
Mr. Morgan said that although it was only the second week in February, two people who wanted to be buried in Milford Haven could not be as they could not afford it so they had to be cremated.
Mr. Morgan stated that people living above Marble Hall Corner are in the Parish of Steynton and can be buried at Steynton Church, at a cost of £450 plus the cost of a gravedigger. Cremated remains can be interred at Steynton Church and St. Katharine and St. Peter’s Church at a cost of £150.
The Mayor said that the cost of burial is an emotive subject and one which the Council takes extremely seriously.
A Member said that Mr. Morgan is indicating that the families he deals with are finding difficulty in meeting the cost of Cemetery fees. This Council has decided to implement the new Cemetery charges from 1st April, 2016, and there is nothing that could be done about this other than note what Mr. Morgan has said and bear it in mind for the future.
Mr. Morgan advised that although the Pembrokeshire County Council is more expensive for burials that this Authority, it is cheaper to bury cremated remains in County Council cemeteries. This Council is charging the same price to put a memorial on the cremated remains area as on a full grave. Most places, including the Pembrokeshire County Council, charge less for a memorial tablet to be placed on cremated remains.
The Clerk said that the Council’s fees for memorials had not increased for a number of years.
Mr. Morgan referred to the Pembrokeshire County Council’s policy of having an annual meeting with the local undertakers to discuss the cemeteries and the crematorium.
Mr. Morgan was asked how he thought the Cemetery could be improved.
Mr. Morgan referred to this Council’s policy of charging double fees for non-residents of Milford Haven. He said that this had a negative impact on people who had lived all their lives in Milford Haven and had to enter nursing homes outside Milford Haven. Mr. Morgan said that Haverfordwest Town Council and the Neyland and Llanstadwell Burial Board have agreed that all Pembrokeshire residents pay single fees. People who have left Pembrokeshire pay double fees.
Mr. Morgan said that the Council stopped using common graves some time ago. These graves were owned by the Town Council and used for people without any families so a person could be interred in a grave and sometime later another person could be buried in the same grave. Pembrokeshire County Council still uses common graves.
Mr. Morgan then referred to the re-using of unpurchased graves over 100 years old. He said that some people would like to purchase a grave in A Section because they would prefer to have a larger headstone on the grave and did not mind being buried in a grave that had already been used.
Mr. Morgan was thanked for the information and he left the meeting.
It was RECOMMENDED THAT:
(i)Mr. S. Morgan, Tom Newing and Sons
Limited is to be invited to attend a Cemetery
meetingon an annual basis every Autumn;
(ii)when discussing the Cemetery fees for
2017-2018, Members will discuss whether to
reduce the cost of a permit for the smaller
cremated remains tablets;
(iii)as from 1st April, 2016, people from Milford
Haven who are still living in Pembrokeshire
do not have to pay double feesat Milford
Haven Cemetery;
(iv)Mr. Morgan’s observations be noted and
considered at future deliberations on
Cemetery issues.
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