Councils are obliged to pay for funerals if families are unwilling or unable to
Councils are obliged to pay for funerals if nobody else is able to
The cost of living crisis continues to bite and no more painfully is it felt than when families are unable to pay for a funeral for a loved one.
In cases where the person who has died is young, and made no provision to cover funeral costs, families are increasingly turning to fundraising websites to pay for a service but in some situations they are unable, or unwilling, to find the money.
Public health funerals are for people who have died and have no next of kin or have family who are unable or unwilling to pay for a funeral. In these cases, local councils must provide funerals under section 46 of the Public Health Act 1984. This is to protect the public’s health and make sure that all people are treated with respect whatever their circumstances.
Local councils don’t have any public health funeral guidance from the government, so each local authority has its own policy on what is and isn’t included. A public health funeral is usually a cremation. But if the person who passed away didn’t want to be cremated for personal or religious reasons the local authority must respect this.
Many councils publish details of public health funerals after receiving Freedom of Information Act requests. Blackpool Council publishes information online about all funerals funded by the authority for the last 12 months.
Between January 5 and December 13 in 2025 Blackpool Council paid for 44 public health funerals. All were cremated.
The 44 people included individuals born in Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Poland, London, Darwen, Belfast and the Philipines. Nine were born in Blackpool.
The youngest was 23-year-old Jack Andrew Thompson from Bolton who died on June 26 in 2025. The oldest was 92-year-old Liza Youngman, a widowed woman from Gillingham.
Can you attend a public health funeral?
It depends on the local authority’s policy. Generally speaking, you can go to a council funeral if a service is offered and you’re related to the person who has died. Sometimes, however, there won’t be any kind of service. Other times, the council may let family attend but you might not be able to get involved in the service.
The local council might place a notice in a local newspaper or on their own website with the date and time of the service so that other people can attend. This is especially important if the person who died had no family, and friends would like to pay their respects.
If the person is buried
If the person who died is going to be buried after a local authority funeral service, it’ll be in a grave with no marker (previously known as a ‘pauper’s grave’). This means that no gravestone or plaque is allowed.
It could also be a communal grave. This means that other people’s coffins may already be buried in the plot. The plot could also be reopened at a later date for other burials.
If the person is cremated
What happens to the ashes after a council funeral? They’ll be kept by the crematorium until a family member or close friend comes to collect them. The crematorium staff will usually let you know how long they’ll keep the ashes before making other arrangements. If no one comes to collect the ashes, they’ll either bury them in an unmarked plot or scatter them in the crematorium gardens.
Can you get a public health funeral on the NHS?
When a person dies in hospital, the local NHS trust may take responsibility for arranging the funeral. As with a council funeral, this usually happens if the person had no next of kin and was unable to cover funeral costs.
A funeral arranged by the NHS isn’t the same as a public health funeral. Unlike local authorities, the NHS is not legally obliged to provide funerals for people who can’t afford them. The decision is up to the NHS trust and is guided by policy, not law.
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