2 hours ago
3
A council has decided against introducing a premium on wider burial plots in Wolverhampton following condemnation that it was a “fat tax”.
Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall had planned to charge an extra 20% to families whose loved ones need a 6ft-wide plot, as opposed to a standard 5ft grave. Wolverhampton council previously said the higher charge was in response to an increase in obesity levels in the Midlands city, where a third of people are obese, compared with the national average of just over a quarter.
Councillors had approved the charges in May after consultation with local funeral parlours, but backed down on Thursday. Wolverhampton city council said: “No formal decision was ever taken on plans to charge more for larger burial plots. This is a common practice taken by councils around the country, where higher charges cover the costs of providing a larger plot.
“However, while under consideration, we have decided not to proceed with the plans.”
The council previously said it had contacted 25 funeral directors before introducing the measure, with only one of them posing an objection. Local authorities in Telford, Birmingham, Walsall, Coventry and Staffordshire have implemented charges for wider coffins.
One of the first councils to introduce higher fees for larger graves was Houghton Regis town council, Bedfordshire, in 2009. A survey by the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors of its members across the UK found a quarter of local authorities charged extra for wider burial plots.
There was also concern in Wolverhampton for couples who wanted to be buried together, but where one was already buried in a standard plot while the other needed to be buried in a larger grave.
Prior to Wolverhampton council backing down over the contentious proposals, funeral director Ross Hickton told the BBC the charge was a “fat tax” and that it was “not really acceptable or fair”, adding: “You know people have paid into the system their entire life, paid their council tax to Wolverhampton council, and for them to be told [the grave is] 20% more because of the size of their loved one, it’s not really acceptable or fair.”
Matthew Crawley, the chief executive at the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, said the charge seemed reasonable. “You have a finite amount of space to work with; therefore if you need to eat into a grave next door, say, then that needs to be accounted for,” he said.
“You also have to account for the idea that digging the grave itself will also need extra equipment to keep it safe.”
after newsletter promotion
In January, the National Association of Funeral Directors said the width of the average coffin had increased in the past decade from between 18 and 20 inches to between 20 and 24 inches.
Wolverhampton resident Rosemarie McLaren had said she felt the plan was “discrimination, it’s not acceptable”. She told the BBC: “Someone like me who’s a bit bigger, is going to be charged [more] because I’m fat.”
