The Hull City Council Bereavement Services department deal with Public Health Section 46 funerals under the Control of Diseases Act 1984.
Community Funerals is a term used by Hull City Council to describe a funeral whereby no other arrangements can be made for the deceased. This situation usually occurs when the deceased has no traceable adult family or friends, when nobody is able to take responsibility for the funeral due to lack of funds, or nobody is willing to take responsibility for the funeral due to be being estranged from them. These are also sometimes referred to as Public Health Funerals, Welfare Funerals or Paupers Funerals.
Community Funeral Process
To determine the circumstances, we follow a pre-defined process. When we become aware of a deceased person with no known next of kin, we make reasonable enquiries to find out whether there are any living relatives. We use information from the police, their neighbours, other Council records and the coroner. A bereavement officer will usually visit the home of the deceased to search for a will or evidence of family connections.
We also sometimes use the services of a reputable firm of genealogists. This is to try and locate next of kin. We do not pay for this service, however, if there is a residual estate after a deduction for our funeral costs has been taken, the genealogists can help the next of kin to recover any monies due to them. The genealogists will charge them for this service.
As soon as we are able, we ensure relevant government departments are informed about the death, this may include the DWP as well as the council tax and housing departments.
If family or friends are found and wish to make funeral arrangements (they are encouraged to do so and to have a funeral they would want for their loved one) it will not be dealt with as a community funeral and all arrangements will be at their own expense. Our team will not be involved.
If no family member is located or can’t take responsibility for the deceased, our officers will arrange for the cremation (no funeral service) and recovery of our costs from whatever assets are available, then will close the case. A funeral director is not involved. We do not accept responsibility for winding up the estate of the deceased. Qualifying "Bona Vacantia" estates are referred to the treasury solicitor. ‘Bona Vacantia’ means vacant goods. It is the name given to ownerless property, which by law passes to the Crown.
The ashes are retained for one month from the date of the cremation and if not claimed during that time, will be scattered in the gardens of the crematorium.
Community Funeral Open Data
Notices of the death, funeral and obituaries are not published in any newspapers. However, we are often asked for information about these funerals, so to have full disclosure and transparency, we publish this information and add new information every two months.
Community and Public Health Funerals
We can publish this data because the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2016 applies to living individuals only, it does not protect the privacy of deceased persons.
Although we publish some address details, we don’t give out specific house numbers or names. This is because Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to withhold information which could affect the prevention and detection of crime. We believe that as the deceased’s property is likely to be unoccupied and may still contain personal papers and belongings, making the last known address of the deceased public, would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime by enabling or encouraging the commission of offences.