Leeds puts up cost of dying for third year

Leeds city council is increasing its charges for burial and cremation services, a move that will raise £171,000.

Current charges for a burial and interment in Leeds are £2,076. From April this year, the fees will go up to £2,138. Cremation fees for over-16s are currently £680, but will go up to £701.

It’s the third time in as many years that prices have gone up.

The council’s Parks and Countryside department manages three crematoria, 24 cemeteries and 22 closed churchyards.

On average, it deals with more than 5,000 cremations and 1,000 burials a year, making it the fifth busiest burial authority in the country.

A report just signed off by senior council officers says: “The increase in fees will enable the city council to meet its statutory obligations as a burial authority.”

The increase will partly help pay for a 50 per cent abatement of mercury emmissions from the city’s crematoria, something that has been made necessary by environmental legislation.

Despite the hikes, there will still be cash help available for those in hardship, the report says.

In the case of a death where the departed has no family, or where a family is struggling, help will be available through social services, the hospital where the death occurred and funeral payments which are available via the Department of Work and Pensions.

The report adds the higher charges are “important in ensuring the sustainability of burial and cremation provision”.

A recent study by the GMB union concluded that the actual cost of dying in Yorkshire was around £7,000, when all funeral costs are taken into account.