Child funeral fees scrapped in victory for bereaved MP

CHILD funeral costs will now be met by the taxpayer, the Prime Minister has announced.

Theresa May said it was wrong for grieving parents to have to struggle with the difficulties of finding money to bury their son or daughter. It follows a campaign by Labour’s Carolyn Harris, who had to take out a loan to bury her eight-year-old son Martin after he was killed in a car accident in 1989.

The MP for Swansea East had pressed the Government to cover the costs of burials and cremations to help parents who find it hard to pay.

Some local authorities in England charge parents of the 4,300 under-18s who die on average each year up to £3,000 in fees. But Mrs May, who praised Miss Harris for her ‘dignity and strength’, yesterday said she was setting up a Children’s Funeral Fund in England to cover these, mirroring a scheme in Wales.

Miss Harris welcomed the move, saying it meant parents in the ‘terrible’ position of losing a child ‘can know there will now be a pot of money to make sure that child has a dignified and respectful funeral’.