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14
NATIONAL ASSITANCE ACT. 1948.
BURIAL OF THE DEAD (Section 50 of the above Act).
A local authority is required ty the provisions of this Act to arrange
the burial or cremation of the body of any person in respect of whom no
other suitable action can be taken. This duty has been so delegated since
5th July, 1948, at which time the National Health Service Act of 1946
became operative.
At first, all such arrangements were dealt with by the Borough Council,
whether death occurred in local hospitals or the homes of residents. Subsequently,
however, the Minister of Health decided that under certain circumstances
Hospital Committees should arrange and pay for the burial or
cremation of patients dying in hospitals. As will be seen from the summary
set out below the degree of responsibility falling to the lot of the local
authority markedly diminished.
Year
Interments arranged by
Borough Council
1948 (approximately 6 months) 43
1949 25
1950 9
1951 10
1952 9
1953 12
1954 4
1955 6
The Borough Council has not, at any time, taken steps to arrange a
cremation. It may well be that exhaustive enquiries have not resulted in
the tracing of relatives; nevertheless the possibility exists that a
member of a deceased person's family may contact the Council and challenge
their right to have carried out a cremation.
Wherever possible the Council endeavours to secure reimbursement of
funeral expenses, either by proceeds from the disposal of an estate, or
from a liable relative. In most instances, deceased persons are found to
have lived in most unsatisfactory or insanitary conditions, generally brought
about by a mis-applied sense of independence, or lack of friends. Procedure
under the Act is not merely a matter of issuing an carder to an undertaker to
carry out a funeral. The home of a deceased person has to be thoroughly
searched for a Will, insurance policies, pension books, money and valuables,
and for papers which may assist in establishing the existence, or otherwise,
of relatives. Later it becomes necessary to prepare an inventory of goods
and furniture, whilst in some cases there ensues considerable correspondence.