Councils hit as cost of cremation soars
Dec 1 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
THE spiralling cost of cremation is set see the North East hit with a bill for more than £10m.
City leaders are looking at ways of raising funds to pay for a series of crematoria upgrades needed to meet Government emission targets.
The bill has been forced on to councils nationwide by Defra experts who are increasingly concerned at the potentially toxic levels of mercury released into the atmosphere when tooth fillings are burnt.
Councils have until December 2012 to find cleaner ways of dealing with at least half their number of cremations. For many this will involve refitting equipment to capture the mercury released during the process.
Officers at Newcastle Council have warned of “a significant challenge” in meeting the cost of the new guidelines.
The estimated bill for refitting council crematoria has risen from initial projections of just £250,000 to the latest estimates which could be up to £2m per council.
The cheapest estimate for a crematorium refit is £450,000, plus massively increased running costs. Some of these costs may be offset by an emissions trading scheme in which older crematoria which cannot be refitted are forced to pay out £25 for every cremation.
It is feared this bill could then be passed on to the bereaved, forcing up funeral costs.
The financial problem is one of a number of difficulties facing Newcastle Council, causing what leader John Shipley recently described as the “biggest funding gap in the city’s history”.
But many councillors admit they have “no option but to follow the Defra guidelines or risk serious health hazards”.
Exposure to the metal is linked to damage to the brain, nervous system and fertility.
The nation’s crematoria are thought to be responsible for at least 16% of the UK’s mercury pollution. Without intervention it is estimated that mercury emissions from crematoria could rise by two-thirds between 2002 and 2020, due to the content of mercury in teeth fillings. Crematoria will then be the biggest single contributor to national mercury emissions.
Crematoria refits are one of a number of bereavement issues facing Newcastle councillors.
On Wednesday an officer’s report will inform members they “have a real challenge ahead to source a new cemetery in the East End of the City with only approximately two years left of new land for burial in Heaton Cemetery.”
