England’s councils provided more than 4,400 public health funerals (PHFs) in 2022/23, an increase of almost 13 per cent from the previous year.

Research by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that this increase resulted in councils spending £5.96m on PHFs in 2022/23, up from £5.63 million in 2021/22.

Commenting on the figures, Councillor Heather Kidd, chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “The rising number of PHFs is a clear example of how councils are having to do more with less, while also continuing to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are treated with dignity.

“Councils need long-term certainty and sustainable funding to ensure that PHFs, along with other essential services, can continue to be delivered to the high standard required.”

PHFs are a straightforward service organised by the local authority when a resident dies without any funeral plans and with no traceable relatives or friends capable of handling the estate.

The LGA sent the survey questions to heads of environment (or those in equivalent positions) in English councils during March and April 2024, with the data extrapolated from 109 responses.

Half (50 per cent) of respondents said they felt recent cost of living increases had impacted numbers of PHFs to a great or moderate extent, with councils spending an average of around £20,000 on the services in 2022/23. Some 55 per cent meanwhile pointed out they had been able to reclaim “all of the costs” sometimes from the deceased’s estate.

Councillor Kidd added: “As this survey shows, as costs increase it’s going to add more pressure onto council budgets, even when they can recoup some money from the deceased’s estate.”

In terms of the day-to-day logistics around PHFs, a large majority (84 per cent) of respondents said staff were familiar to a great or moderate extent with the Government’s good practice guidance.