An edition of the Tyne Tees Television current affairs programme ‘Briefing’ about the Death Grant, a single payment made from Social Security funds to help towards funerary expenses. With funerary costs on the rise should the grant be increased or abolished. A film report by Kevin Rowntree looks at many of the additional costs that are incurred by even the simplest of funerals and speaks with a Funeral Director, a Church of England Vicar and a representative of the Department of Health and...

An edition of the Tyne Tees Television current affairs programme ‘Briefing’ about the Death Grant, a single payment made from Social Security funds to help towards funerary expenses. With funerary costs on the rise should the grant be increased or abolished. A film report by Kevin Rowntree looks at many of the additional costs that are incurred by even the simplest of funerals and speaks with a Funeral Director, a Church of England Vicar and a representative of the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) about why these costs have increased so much and what can be done to help. Back in the studio Ian Breach conducts a discussion on the points raised in the report with two local MP’s as well as representatives of Age Concern, the insurance industry and the DHSS. Title Tyne Tees Briefing A funeral procession or cortege leaves the Co-Operative funeral home at Benwell House in Newcastle, in voiceover the Reverend Malcom Jones talks about the costs of a funeral and his concern that people may put on a more lavish affair than is necessary that will lead them into financial difficulties. In the Tyne Tees Television studio in Newcastle presenter Ian Breach introduces this week’s edition of ‘Briefing’ that looks at the anger and anxiety that surround the Death Grant, a single payment made from Social Security funds to help towards funerary expenses. While this payment hasn’t been increased since it was introduced more than thirty years previously, the costs of a funeral have done so massively. A filmed report begins on a Monday morning in the offices of the Co-Operative Funeral Services Ltd, one of the largest funeral homes in the region. Sitting at his desk a man takes details over the phone of a death that took place over the weekend, around him others work to arrange funerals. In a local cemetery reporter Kevin Rowntree speaks to the camera about the present divide between the Death Grant and the current cost of even the most modest funeral which costs around £450. He asks the question why should funerals be so expensive? In driveway of their premises at Benwell House the staff of Co-Operative Funeral Services pose for their camera beside their fleet of hearses, in voiceover Kevin Rowntree provides details of their costs for a standard funeral. As a funeral cortege leaves the funeral home additional costs are added onto initial costs relating to additional cars and milage, body removal and church delivery. Inside the Co-Ops Chapel of Rest a statue of the Virgin Mary and an empty coffin sitting on a stand. An additional cost to use the chapel is given as £3.50. In the embalming room a technician going about his work, a cost of £15.50 is given for this service as well as an additional £6 for the laying out of the body. In another room at the funeral home Kevin Rowntree stands between two coffins, the cheapest available costing £160 and one middle-of-the-range coffin costing £260. He provides details on both. Sitting on a nearby plinth its door open the top-of-the-range casket costing £530. In a warehouse area a range of coffins sitting on shelves changes to one of them being fitted out by an employee. Outside West Lane Crematorium in Newcastle two parked funerary vehicles, laid out on the pavement flowers and bouquets. Gravestones in the cemetery changes to a woman serving coffee inside Benwell House, a service the Co-Operative provides along with a large dining room to accommodate funerals of any size. Inside a local newspaper a death notice and acknowledgement. In voiceover throughout this sequence Kevin Rowntree providing the costs for all these additional services. In her office a female Funeral Director at the Co-Operative provides details on some of their own fixed charges which have increased 250% in the past decade while cemetery fees have increased 600% and Ministers fees rising 750%. With Kevin Rowntree providing details on Church of England fees, the Reverend Malcom Jones comes into the cemetery of his church, St John Church at Killingworth, carrying a spade and a container containing the ashes of an individual. Walking over to an already dug hole he begins to pour the ashes into it after which he says a pray. He speaks with Kevin Rowntree about Church of England fees and what he does to potentially mitigate some of them. Standing outside Arden House in Gosforth Kevin Rowntree provides details of how people can apply for a Death Grant from the DHSS. Inside he speaks with Dave Bowling from the DHSS and asks if older people should worry about funerary costs as well as about a new scheme that would replace the Death Grant and about how it will work. A newspaper advertisement for funeral expenses plan followed by literature produced by the Co-Operative about a funeral pre-payment plan. Standing outside Newcastle’s Civic Centre Kevin Rowntree explains that if someone doesn’t have the money to pay for a funeral then local councils, such as Newcastle City Council, have a statutory duty to pay. Back in her office Kevin Rowntree asks the female Funeral Director about ways in which funeral costs can be kept down. She sees her job as guiding the bereaved to provide the most appropriate funeral possible. Standing over the grave seen earlier, the Reverend Jones says people often spends more than then necessarily need to which can lead them into financial difficulties. He goes onto provide details of what recently bereaved families could do during these difficult times such as appoint someone not in the family to make the funeral arrangement and to ask from an estimate from the funeral director before committing. Over graves in a cemetery Kevin Rowntree in voiceover asks what will happen with the Death Grant now that the Conservatives are safely back in power as they had wished to abolish it. A vox pop with several older men and women on the streets of Newcastle about what funerary arrangements they have made, many talk about trying to save as much as they can but will it be enough? Title: End of Part One Part Two Returning to the Tyne Tees studio Ian Breach conducts a discussion on the Death grant asking if it should be improved or abolished with people needing to become fore self-reliant. In the studio to discuss these and other related points are Piers Merchant Conservative MP for Newcastle Central, Roland Boyes Labour MP for Houghton and Washington, Isobel Reed from Age Concern, Insurance Expert Tom Tully, Rosemary Brownlow from the Liberal – Social Democratic Party and Dave Bowling from the DHSS. The programme ends with Ian Breach looking forward to the next edition of ‘Briefing’ that will ask why £800 million a year go unclaimed in social security benefits and why people don’t know about grants to which they are entitled. Credit: Presenter Ian Breach Reporter Kevin Rowntree Film Camera Fred Crone, Graham Brown Film Sound Ed Gray, Nic Grant Film Editor Peter Telford Research Chris Cowey, Lynne Petrie Political Editor John Sleight Film Directors Rob Cowley, Bernard Preston Studio Director James Whiteley Producer Bob Farnworth End title: Tyne Tees. © Tyne Tees Television Ltd. MCMLXXXIV