I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the burial fees and policies of your council. Specifically, I am seeking details on the charges applied to residents versus non-residents and the income generated from these services.
Please provide the following information:
1. Burial Fees and Surcharges
• Does the council currently apply a surcharge or increased fee for the burial of individuals who lived outside the borough/council at the time of their death?
• If yes, what is the current "Resident" fee vs. the "Non-Resident" fee for:
o A standard adult interment (burial).
o The purchase of the "Exclusive Right of Burial" (the lease for the plot).
• What is the specific criteria used to define a "Non-Resident" (e.g., number of years lived outside the borough)?
2. Financial Data For the most recent completed financial years (2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25), please provide:
• The total gross income received by the council from all burial and cemetery-related payments.
• The total income specifically generated from the non-resident surcharge (i.e., the "extra" amount paid by non-residents above the standard resident rate).
• If the specific surcharge income is not tracked as a separate line item, please provide the total number of non-resident burials conducted in the same financial year.
• If you could provide this info in an Excel spreadsheet that would be great.
3. Policy and Rationale
• Please provide the date when the current non-resident fee structure was brought in
Format of Response: If any of this information is already published on your website, please provide the direct links to the relevant documents or pages.