We are responsible for arranging funerals when someone passes away in our area and:
In such cases, we may be asked to step in and make the necessary arrangements.
Under Section 46(1) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, we are legally required to arrange a burial or cremation for anyone who dies within our area if no other suitable arrangements are being made.
Important: Please contact us before making any arrangements with a Funeral Director.
By law, funeral expenses are the first claim on any estate. If the deceased has an estate, we will seek to recover the costs of the funeral from it.
If you are unable to arrange a funeral for someone who has passed away you may be able to receive financial assistance. For more details on this please see our Funeral Guidance document.
Our basic funeral service includes:
Note: Burials are unattended.
We aim to respect and accommodate the cultural and religious traditions of the deceased and their family wherever possible.
Public Health Funerals Since April 2016
We release this information to assist in the tracing of relatives. We do not disclose any further information and rely on Section 31(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act. Section 31 (1) (a) is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to the Public Interest Test (PIT). Section 31(1) (a) provides an exemption where prejudice could be caused to other investigations and to general steps taken in relation to law enforcement in that disclosure of this information would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime by enabling or encouraging the commission of offences, for instance fraud.
In applying this exemption, Stratford-on-Avon District Council has had to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure. The council has concluded that the PIT favours non-disclosure because, although disclosure of this information could ultimately lead to the next of kin becoming aware of the estate of a deceased person and promote general openness of information by the council, this is not outweighed by the harm that could be caused by increasing the incidence of crime through disclosure of personal information such as names, dates of birth and last known address. Releasing this information could lead to identity theft and/or fraud or, through releasing the last known property address, which is quite likely to be empty, could ultimately lead to crime such as burglary and squatting.
Therefore, this council is of the opinion that the balance of public interest favours non-disclosure of this information, but will consider each request individually.
Rather than using traditional cemeteries or crematoriums, some people choose to have private burials at home or on private land. This is an acceptable practice, although there are some procedures that must be followed. Before a private burial takes place, the Environmental Protection team at the council should be contacted on 01789 267575, as well as the Environment Agency on 08708 506506.
As well as contacting these agencies it is also important to consider the following issues:
When choosing cremation it is important to consider what to do with the remains. Crematoriums will have areas where ashes can be spread and some cemeteries and graveyards will allow ashes to be spread or buried. Alternatively the ashes can be spread on private land or in rivers, streams or lakes. If ashes are spread on private land or lakes this must be with permission of the landowner. Spreading ashes into a stream or river is an accepted practice and for individual ceremonies there is no requirement to contact the Environment Agency. There is, however, expectation to comply with the following guidelines:
For further information, please contact Environmental Health:
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