Where it appears that no suitable arrangements for the disposal of a body have been or are being made, the Public Protection Partnership (PPP) has a duty under section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 to 'bury or cremate a body of any person who has died or found to be dead' within the geographical area PPP covers.

Notification of a deceased person may be received from several sources for example, the police, coroner, registrar, or a member of the public.

Where an individual dies without a will and/or without next of kin to manage their estate the PPP may be asked to arrange their funeral (this is known as National Assistance Funeral). In reality, and unless expressly wished for, a cremation would be carried out.

We may also pass details of the individual's estate to the Treasury Solicitor's Bona Vacantia division, who collect information for the purposes of dealing with estates worth more than £500.

For details of the National Assistance Funerals list please contact us.

If you believe you may be related to someone who has received a public health funeral or cremation, or you are a solicitor acting on behalf of a relative, please contact us

 

Freedom of Information Requests

Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act - Law Enforcement (prevention and detection of crime)

Under S31 of the Act, we will not disclose information where they relate to addresses of the deceased as this would constitute a breach in confidence. Furthermore, releasing such information would leave the property vulnerable to crime including identity fraud and hence S31 will be applied to prevent any identifying information regarding the deceased being released.

 

Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act- Personal Information

We also apply the exemption regarding disclosure of names under S40 of the Act. Disclosing the full name of the deceased may lead to living relatives being identified and we will therefore exempt such disclosure to protect the personal information of any living relatives.