00:00Last year, the Law Commission, an independent body which reviews legislation in England and Wales, said cremitation laws are out of date and unsuitable for the modern world.
00:13A council's plan to introduce higher burial fees for wider graves has drawn criticism from residents and a funeral director, prompting the council to reverse its decision.
00:24At Danans Court Cemetery in Tetanawal in the city of Wolverhampton, the council had proposed a £2,700 charge for a six-foot-wide burial plot, a 20% increase over the standard five-foot grave.
00:39Funeral director Ross Hickton described the proposed fee as a fat tax.
00:45The council initially defended the move, citing a rise in demand for larger graves.
00:50It pointed to local obesity rates of 33.3%, higher than the national average of 25.9%, and that was based on a 2021 survey.
01:01Local resident Rosemary McLaren called the plan discrimination and said it's not acceptable.
01:07Matthew Crawley, chief executive of the Institute for Cemetery and Crematorium Management, had said the proposed change appeared reasonable.
01:16Other councils, including those in Talford, Birmingham, Warsaw, Coventry and Staffordshire, already apply extra fees for wider coffins.
01:27The City of Wolverhampton Council initially said the added cost reflected the increased costs incurred in providing them, including disposing of the additional soil,
01:37and that the change was necessary because they said there is a need for it.
01:42But following a BBC investigation, the council confirmed it would not move forward with the plan.
01:50In a statement, the council said,
01:52We are committed to ensuring our bereavement services continue to provide dignity and accessibility for all families.
02:01A survey by the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors found that among 165 respondents,
02:11one in four said their local council already charges more for wider plots.
02:16The Week.com reported that last year, almost half of the funeral directors in England warned that storage capacity for deceased people was under pressure.
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