Club to host charity night

TWICE the number of ‘pauper’s funerals’ are taking place in Newcastle as were held in 2010, figures show.

According to statistics obtained through a Freedom of Information request, Newcastle City Council stepped in 44 times in 2017/18 to organise a funeral for families who cannot afford to pay for one themselves. In 2010/11, the number was just 22. The cost to the local authority of providing such funerals has also spiralled from £14,441 to £49,665 in that time.

When a deceased person has no next of kin or the family cannot afford to pay the costs of a funeral, councils have a duty to dispose of the body.

Council leader Nick Forbes said that the increase was “upsetting” and “another example of austerity gripping the city”.

In Newcastle, the council will provide only a basic funeral and will not pay for death notices in newspapers, flowers, or transport other than the hearse.

If the person is buried then it will be in an unpurchased grave and no headstone will be erected.

Coun Forbes said: “Every pauper’s funeral is a tragedy.

“For someone to die with no close friends or family or the funding to pay for a funeral is terrible and reflects the fragmented nature of some communities and the loneliness that some people experience throughout their lives.

“It is particularly upsetting to see the increase in such funerals in recent years

“It is another example of austerity gripping the city.

“I can’t help but think that the Government cuts to support services that people have relied on must have had an impact.

“We will always step in to give a dignified funeral if there is absolutely no alternative, but I wish we didn’t have to.”

In Newcastle, Civic Centre chiefs estimate that the authority will have slashed £283m from its budget between 2010 and the end of the current budget cycle in 2020. THERE are no plans to stop council workers using the weedkiller glyphosate – despite a US court ruling in favour of a gardener who claimed the chemical caused his terminal cancer.

South Tyneside Council (STC) has said it is satisfied it is safe to use by trained and competent staff.

Last week a jury in California ruled that the substance had “substantially” contributed to groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in 2014.

A STC spokesperson said: “We follow government regulations for weed control and await any further guidance on the matter.” AN annual charity night at the Union Jack Club in Throckley will be hosted on Sunday, August 26, with all proceeds going to Marie Curie in Elswick.

There will be an auction and raffle with a range of prizes. Motown act The King & I will be providing entertainment.

Tickets can be purchased at the club.