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— 31
NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT. 1948.
BURIAL OR CREMATION OF THE DEAD
In accordance with the provisions of the above Act, the Borough
Council is required to make arrangements for the burial or cremation
of the body of any person in respect of whom no other suitable action
can be taken. This responsibility has been operative since 5th July,
1948, on which date the National Health Service Act, 1946, came into
force.
In the early stages, the Borough Council dealt with all interments
of the nature indicated above, whether they died in hospitals or in their
own homes. However, in March, 1949, the Minister of Health reconsidered
the application of this particular section of the National Assistance Act,
and decided that Hospital Committees and Boards should arrange and pay for
the burial or cremation of patients dying in hospitals under the following
circumstances:
(a) Relatives not being traced;
(b) Relatives being traced, but who were not, immediately before
a patient's death, liable to his (or her) maintenance under
section 42(1) of the Act, and are not willing to undertake
the arrangement of burial or cremation; and
(c) Relatives not being able to obtain a death grant under the
National Insurance Act, 1946, and unable to accept financial
responsibility for burial or cremation expenses.
This decision by the Minister of Health greatly eased the financial
burden on the Borough Council in a direct sense, as will be seen from the
following summary:
Borough Council
1948 (approximately 6 months) 43
1949 25
1950 9
1951 10
1952 9