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421214

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department is giving to people on low incomes who are unable to cover the costs of a funeral deposit.
	tabling member constituency	Rochdale
	tabling member printed	Simon Danczuk
	uin	11552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2015 answer text <p>I believe it is important that help is available to people on low incomes when they face moments of unforeseeable and exceptional need. For this reason, the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments scheme provides help to people on qualifying benefits with funeral costs.</p><p>Social Fund Budgeting Loans, which can be made to people who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks, are also available to support people with funeral costs. Budgeting Loans can be made irrespective of whether the applicant has claimed or is entitled to a Funeral Expenses Payment, and can therefore help where a deposit is required up front.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/10/2015 14:58:02 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4059 label Biography information for Simon Danczuk

433297

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Funeral Payment provision for funeral expenses.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	18149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2015 answer text <p>The Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme continues to provide valuable help towards the cost of a funeral for people in receipt of a qualifying benefit. My department continually reviews the scheme to improve and streamline it.</p><br /><p>Funeral Expenses Payments are made to all applicants who satisfy the eligibility criteria. Awards cover the full necessary costs involved with either burial or cremation and up to £700 for other funeral expenses. In 2014/15 over 32,000 awards were made to people in Great Britain. These payments were worth £44 million, with an average award of £1,375. The average award has increased by 27% since 2006.</p><br /><p>Social Fund Budgeting Loans are also available to help with funeral expenses for people who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks.</p><br /> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/12/2015 14:37:54 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

443702

	registered interest
	date	11/01/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has any plans to change the social fund funeral payment in the next 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	21875
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2016 answer text <p>The Government continually looks to improve its service. For example, in 2015 informal discussions have already taken place with stakeholders, including the National Association of Funeral Directors, representatives from life assurance companies, academics and advice services on possible improvements. These discussions carry on and there is a current focus on how to improve information on eligibility.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 14/01/2016 15:27:20 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

448759

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Social Fund funerals were made in each year between 2010 and 2015; how many such applications were refused; and what the (a) budget and (b) lowest payment made was.
	tabling member constituency	South Shields
	tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
	uin	24696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2016 answer text <p>Table 1 shows the number of applications for Funeral Expenses Payments which were made and the number refused in the financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15.</p><p><strong>Table 1</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Applications (000)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Initial Refusals (000)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p>69</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p>69</p></td><td><p>36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p>66</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p>59</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Data sourced from the DWP policy, Budget and Management Information System and is published in the Annual Report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund for the relevant year.</p><p>The budget for the Social Fund, Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) expenditure is demand-led. Legislation prescribes that payments are made to all eligible applicants. That is people responsible for arranging a funeral who meet the rules on relationships with the deceased and receive a qualifying benefit. Provision for FEPs is made by central Government through the supply estimate process, but these figures are not translated into an operational budget and do not impact eligibility or award amounts.</p><p>In a minority of cases funeral expense payments are subsequently recovered from the deceased’s estate and in these cases the net amount can be very small. Given the small numbers involved it is not appropriate to release figures as there is a risk of identifying individuals.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 05/02/2016 11:41:04 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck