Teresa Pearce: Labour is clear – it’s time to end infant funeral charges

I feel incredibly lucky to have a wonderful, supportive family around me, including my two daughters and five young grandchildren. I simply couldn’t imagine life without them.

But tragically, there are parents across the UK who have had to cope with the loss of their child. Every year in the UK, 5000 children die. Of those, 3700 have not even celebrated their first birthday. For any parent, the thought alone is unbearable.

At the moment different local authorities have different rules on charging for the burial and cremation of children – some charge, while others don’t. That’s not fair. No grieving parent should have to worry if their local authority will be sending them an expensive bill for the burial plot.

On average, cremations cost £683 and burials cost £1,645. These are additional to the cost of the funeral, coffin and gravestone. Altogether, the cost of a basic funeral is between £3,700 and £6,000. With more than 16million people in the UK having savings of less than £100, the only available options for many will be taking out a loan or applying to a charity for funds.

I was moved when reading about Melissa in the Sunday Mirror who lost her 8 month old son last year, and while suffering from an unimaginable grief, needed to plan, organise – and pay for the funeral.

It’s not right that heartbroken parents, trying to cope with the death of their child should be scrimping around for the money to give their child a decent funeral.

No parent should ever have to bury their child – but when they tragically do, they shouldn’t be subject to a postcode lottery regarding the price of it. For example, there are parts of London where, if you live on one side of the road, you won’t have to pay for the burial of your child, and if you live on the other side of the road you’ll have to pay up to £2000 to do so. This isn’t the fault of any particular local authority and it isn’t a political point. As a society, we can – and should – come together to provide support for bereaved parents.

That’s why the Labour Party has made a small ask of the government. In a few weeks – on the 23^rd of November – the chancellor will publish the autumn statement, and lay out this government’s spending priorities. And whilst it is right that our minds are focused towards the big issues of the moment, such as Brexit and the refugee crisis, this issue is important too. And it wouldn’t take very much for the government to help to reduce the suffering of those struggling with the unimaginable loss of a child.

The Labour Party is asking the government to provide £10 million so that no local authority will have to charge for the burial or cremation of children and no grief stricken parent has to worry about the financial costs of a funeral. This would represent 0.001% of what the Government spends in a year – comparatively a drop in the ocean, which would help to alleviate the immense suffering of bereaved families. 

These tragedies are so painful that they are unthinkable for most. But as a society, we can collectively gather round and pay for the financial costs whilst families cope with the emotional costs at such a desperate point in their lives. It’s the least we can do to show our condolences. If you support our proposal, please sign up here and help those families.

Teresa Pearce MP is shadow secretary of state for communities and local government