Surely Local Authorities Can Dispose Of Bodies Cheaper Than This...

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46796036
Not withstanding the newer firms doing cheap "funerals" for just over a grand, surely the local authorities own the crematoria anyway, I don;t see why this is such an expense. Once body cleared for disposal, in the oven, sorted. Anyone with more direct knowledge shed any light?

[woofgang]

of course I should have said "crematoria or burial facilities"

[dannyk13]

TTT from your link:-
//Family and friends can attend but the "no frills" service does not include flowers or transport for family.

[ToraToraTora]

Naomi : 10:20 - if that were true it would cost no more than the transportation to the crem. The crem fee goes to the council anyway so that's costs nowt (could be considered lack of income by accountants).
From your link "When a council arranges a public health funeral, the person who has died will be provided with a coffin and the services of a funeral director to bear them to the crematorium or cemetery with dignity." - most of the costs then, will be the "funeral director" who charge a fortune for doing very little. That's the problem, get these necro leeches out of the equation.

[naomi24]

Woofgang, //I guess that a part of the cost to the council is in lost revenue.//

I think many pauper’s funerals are conducted outside normal hours. I was at a last funeral of the day just last week, and as we left a hearse arrived carrying a coffin. No mourners cars, no flowers – just a hearse and a coffin. Very sad. Of course staff still have to be paid, so there is some cost involved, but I don’t think the venue loses revenue as such for pauper’s funerals.

[naomi24]

TTT, that’s a bit harsh. You can hardly expect councils to dump the dead in a bin liner and shove them into the back of a builder’s van along with the paint pots and ladders. You have to be realistic.

[dannyk13]

Naomi // I don’t think the venue loses revenue as such for pauper’s funerals//
It will lose the cost for the use of the crematorium paid for by the funeral director.

[ToraToraTora]

Naomi: "...just a hearse and a coffin. Very sad." - no not sad, not sad at all. What is sad is that the body is not in a body bag in the back of a council transit rather than black car that costs gawd knows how much to deliver a body to the crem. Not a criticism of you but that illustrates why we inexplicably pay thousands to leeches so we can dispose of a body in what has become the traditional way. Why? You can dispose of a body as cheaply as possible and spend the money on a bash to remember them if you want but we tend to spend it at the whim of emotional black mailers.

[ToraToraTora]

when I go I want them to dispose of the body as cheaply as possible then spend a grand on a bash somewhere where they can have speeches and talk about me. That's is what a funeral is, except they often cost £5k to do it.

[naomi24]

Danny, as I said, I think most pauper’s funerals are conducted outside normal hours. Funeral directors don’t pay for use of a crematorium. The cost is borne by the people who organise the funeral… whether that be private individuals or councils.

TTT, I don’t mind paying a little to afford the dead some semblance of dignity.

[naomi24]

//when I go I want them to dispose of the body as cheaply as possible//

Me too.

[maggiebee]

Not sure about other parts of Scotland, but the crematorium in Dundee is privately owned.

[dannyk13]

Naomi, as the councils own the crematorium they lose the cost when they organise the funeral.

[naomi24]

We have a privately owned crematorium here too.

[ToraToraTora]

"TTT, I don’t mind paying a little to afford the dead some semblance of dignity. " - it's done for the living not the dead.

[ToraToraTora]

if the crem is private then the council can pay as now, still a lot cheaper than than the whole circus it currently is.

[naomi24]

Danny, I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. Councils that arrange for paupers' funerals to be conducted outside normal hours are paying for transport for the body and staff at the crematorium to do whatever is necessary, I hesitate to add fuel costs – but of course they are paying for that too. They are not paying for use of the venue as such.

[maggiebee]

When my friend's husband died, his body was taken from the hospital straight to the crematorium. Not sure what type of transport was used, but there was no hearse, no service and no mourners. There was a memorial service about a month later attended by people from all over the world as he had been a world renouned radiologist.

[naomi24]

TTT, yes, it is done for the living. People in general like to afford the dead a little respect. I’ve no objection to that.

//if the crem is private then the council can pay as now, still a lot cheaper than than the whole circus it currently is.//

That, surely, would be more expensive.

[maggiebee]

"renowned" duh!

[naomi24]

maggiebee, that wasn't a pauper's funeral. It sounds like that's what he or his family wanted, so a different thing entirely.