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Fall in death rate means burial costs set to rise
The cost of burying a loved one is set to rocket because not enough people are dying.
Portsmouth City Council plans to hike up cemetery fees by 20 per cent to close a 38,000 gap in its budget after the death rate plummeted.
If the new charges get the go-ahead it means the total average cost will be 761 after April this year, compared with the 634 that it currently costs.
The Lib Dem-run council says the new charges will bring its fees in line with other local authorities across the area.
But Conservative leader Steve Wemyss said: 'That is just an excuse. It seems insensitive to me to put the prices up so much when times are so hard for everyone.
'I understand they need to balance the books, but I think this price increase will probably stop some people from being buried who would want to be.'
The Office for National Statistics predicted a decline in the death rate as people start to live longer.
In Portsmouth it means income from cemeteries is less than budgeted for, leaving the department facing a cash-flow problem.
Increasing prices will generate up to 57,000 extra next year.
Muriel Deacon, president of Portsmouth Pensioners' Association, said: 'This is a big hike and it does seem ill-timed to do it now, although I guess there is never a good time.
'The trouble is now, because of the fall in interest rates, a lot of older people are going to spend their money and not have a lot left at the end of their lives.'
Independent councillor Jason Fazackarley will decide whether or not to give the increases the go-ahead at a meeting on Monday.
He said: 'It is regrettable that we have to put prices up because organising a burial is a sad time for everyone.
'But the stark reality is that we are being forced to by a combination of factors – there has been a fall in the death rate and we don't have a lot of money. We will still be cheaper than a lot of other local authorities.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Friday 10 February 2012
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