Policy Document for Public Health Funerals Brighton and Hove City Council 2018

Under section 46(1) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, Brighton and Hove City Council has a duty to cause to be buried or cremated the body of any person who dies or is found dead within their district, where no other arrangements have been made, are being made, or are likely to be made.  Section 46 of the Act also states that the Council may recover all their costs incurred in making the funeral arrangements from the estate of the deceased. 

Due to the potentially complex nature of some cases, this document should be viewed as an outline to procedure. 

 

If the person died in hospital

If the deceased died as an in-patient, in a hospital managed by NHS Trust and there are no relatives, the Hospital Bereavement Team may assume responsibility for the funeral arrangements and recover their expenses from the deceased’s estate.

• Phone:01273 696955 extension 4611 

If the person died outside of Brighton & Hove 

If the deceased died outside of Brighton and Hove City Council’s boundary, the funeral arrangements will be the responsibility of the local authority where they died, even if they had been living in Brighton or Hove. If in doubt you can use the person's postcode on GOV.UK to find their local council and then refer on to: 

Lewes and Eastbourne District Council 

Environmental Health team

• Phone: 01273 471600 

Mid Sussex District Council

Environmental Health team

• Phone: 01444 477292
• Mid Sussex public health funerals web page

Horsham District Council

Ask for the Environmental Health team

• Phone: 01403 215100 
• Horsham public health funerals web page

Adur & Worthing Councils 

• Phone: 01273 263259
• Adur & Worthing public health funerals web page

If the person died with a signed will

If the person died with a signed will responsibilities for funeral arrangements will lie with the Executor of the will. If the Executor wishes to renounce their role, they must provide written confirmation of this in order to proceed with a referral to the council.

Prior to a referral being made, family and friends should explore the following options so that they can arrange a private funeral on for the deceased. 

• Funeral Expenses payment: Family members, partners and close friends on certain benefits may be eligible for a Government Payment towards the cost of a funeral. GOV.UK has more information about funeral payments.
• Low cost funeral options can be found online, including the option of direct cremations.
• Consider funding the funeral through contributions from other friends and family. Crowd funding for funeral costs can also be considered. 
• Checks can be made to find out if the deceased had a funeral plan. 
• Checks on the deceased’s estates should be made. Savings, insurance plans and pensions for example. The Funeral Director will often work directly with the bank for payment if they are assured the funds are available. 

The Council cannot get involved where funeral arrangements have already been made, or if the funeral has already taken place. The Council cannot provide any funding for funeral arrangements to families, whether the funeral has taken place or not.

Registration of death

The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 defines persons qualified to give information concerning a death. The preference is for a relative of the deceased to register. The Bereavement Team would therefore expect a relative, where possible, to carry out this duty. 

Find out how to register a death in Brighton & Hove.

The death can be registered by declaration from anywhere within the UK.

The green Certificate for Burial or Cremation must then be given to the Bereavement Team. This certificate is not given in Coroner’s cases.  
In all cases, the person registering must inform a Bereavement Officer that the death has been registered.

Where a relative is not available then the death can be also be registered by:

• A person present at the time of death
• The occupier if they knew about the death (This allows care homes to register).
• Where these persons are not able to register the death, the Council will register as the person causing the disposal of the body.

Other qualifications are also available, details of which can found by calling the Register Office:

• Phone: 01273 292016

The referral procedures have been put in place to assist the Council to deal with, administer and deliver a Public Health Funeral in a timely manner and to avoid any unnecessary delays when deciding whether or not a Public Health Funeral will be taking place. 

Referral forms are available from the Bereavement Team at Woodvale.

• Email: woodvale@brighton-hove.gov.uk
• Phone: 01273 604020 

The form may not be accepted if it is felt that all the necessary information has not been provided. Details of any known next of kin alongside the reasons why the referral is being made must be included.

Inspection of property

Section 61(1) (d) of the Public Health (Control of disease) Act 1984 gives Officers the right to enter a property to conduct a search

Before accepting responsibility for carrying out a public health funeral, a search of the property where the deceased lived/died may be carried out in order to locate:

• a will 
• legal and financial papers including deeds.
• paper work to establish next of kin. 
• cash and small valuables that may be sold to offset the costs of the funeral. Cash/cheques will be banked in a dedicated account and valuables stored securely.

The property search will always be carried out by two people and photographs and documentation will be kept on file. The Bereavement Team is not responsible for cleaning or clearing the property. 

The Council is not the executor of the estate.

Searching for next of kin 

To enable the Council to locate next of kin who may be able to arrange a funeral, they will engage the services of a Genealogy company, at no cost to the Council.  If next of kin are found they will be invited to arrange the funeral. Information regarding the deceased’s potential estate will be shared, to enable a funeral to be planned and probate to be commenced.
 

If the deceased has next of kin who are unable to make suitable arrangements, the nearest surviving relative will be required to sign a form stating that they are willing for the Council to make the funeral arrangements and understand that the costs will be recovered from the deceased’s estate. This form may be shared with the relevant financial institutions. Once signed, the Manager will consider the case and decide if the criteria have been met for a Public Health Funeral or if further research needs to be completed.

Where the family has already removed possessions from the deceased’s last place of residence, these may need to be returned to the Council to help offset the funeral costs. All relevant paperwork should also be handed to the Council. 

Where there are no next of kin or any other person who is able to arrange a funeral then the Council will assume this responsibility. 

Brighton and Hove City Council believe that a funeral should take place within a three month period from date of death due to the deterioration of the body when this is exceeded. The Council will endeavour to carry out all Public Health Funerals within this time frame.

In cases where a deceased has been taken into the care of a Funeral Director or the Borough Mortuary under the assumption that there will be a private funeral arranged; the Council will in the first instance contact the family, if it still appears no other arrangements have been made, are being made, or are likely to be made a Public Health Funeral may be considered.
In such cases the Council, though their contracted funeral directors will provide everything necessary for a simple but dignified funeral.
 

The council contracted funeral directors will provide everything necessary for a simple but dignified and economical funeral. Family and friends may have some input into the service such as choosing a piece of music, where it does not result in an extra cost to the Council or where there is conflict with family members.

Family and friends may attend the service; however, this service will be at a time and date suitable for the Crematorium and Funeral director, usually a 9.30 am slot Monday – Wednesday.

The council will not pay for discretionary items such as flowers or wreaths. Silk flowers for the coffin are provided. 
The council will not part-fund a funeral.

The council will take into account religious beliefs and wishes of the deceased when arranging the funeral/ strewing or interring of cremated remains. If any requests seem unreasonable this will be recorded in a report explaining why these requests could not be met. 

Public health funerals will always default to cremations.

After the cremation, you can collect the ashes if there is no conflict with family members.

We will carry out a burial where there is reason to believe that the deceased wanted a burial. There needs to be evidence to support this.

If we determine that a burial will take place it will be in a shared public grave of up to three separate, unrelated burials. The grave will not be marked but it will be in the appropriate denominational section of the cemetery.
 

Brighton and Hove City Council are entitled to recover the costs when making funeral arrangements under Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of diseases) Act 1984. The Council will seek to recover the full cost of the funeral plus an administration fee. Property such as jewellery may be sold to help offset the cost of the funeral. 

Where there are no next of kin identified the bank/building society will be informed in order that they can refer the estate to the Bona Vacantia if they establish it is worth more than £500 when all debts and liabilities have been resolved. Where there are no bank records, but the deceased is known to have owned a property, the Bereavement Team will then refer directly to Bona Vacantia. 

The Bereavement Team does not manage the estate of the deceased and therefore has no responsibility to inform companies where there are debts of the death.
 

Files for Public Health Funerals are kept in accordance to statutory law and remain on file for 15 years. Anybody with an objection to their details being kept on file should contact the office regarding their removal. Details will only be shared with third parties with the knowledge and permission of the data subject.