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Dr. Moonie: The hon. Gentleman should not get me wrong. We do not take overstretch lightly, and that is why my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces spent so much time on it earlier and why I am trying to address it further now. It is important as one of the major factors affecting operational effectiveness and morale. A wide range of measures are in hand to correct the problem, especially in the RAF, including more recruitment, putting more entrants into cockpits more quickly, and retaining service personnel through the link-up scheme. That will fund RAF pilots to gain commercial pilot licences in return for a guaranteed period of service and phased release for employment in commercial airline companies. Innovative approaches such as that should pay off in the medium term.
Retention is another area of major concern and we are tackling it as a high priority. In addition to all the policy for people initiatives that we have introduced, we have tried to concentrate on areas such as better terms and conditions of service, improvements in pay and
allowances, better quality of training and opportunities to gain civilian qualifications. In the Navy, we are making specific attempts to improve single living accommodation, to provide additional longer service at sea bonus payments for excessive preparation, which were introduced in December. We are trialling satellite television to try to improve the quality of time spent at sea, and we are fitting e-mail and internet facilities. The link-up scheme will also include Sea Harrier pilots.In the Army, officer and soldier premature voluntary retirement rates seem to have stabilised at lower rates this year, and while we are still concerned about junior officers the overall position is not as bad as Opposition Members might have feared. We are keeping the situation under constant review. We are also trying to improve living accommodation. I visited some single living accommodation yesterday, which was not the worst by any means, but I am well aware of the problems with which single soldiers have to contend. I assure the House that I shall deal with them as quickly as possible. We are trying to reduce turbulence for personnel and their families in the Army, and I intend to give further direction on that point to the Defence Housing Executive and through the chain of command--
It being Seven o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
PETITION
Allotments, Prestonville
7 pm
Mr. David Lepper (Brighton, Pavilion): I am pleased to present a petition from Prestonville Community Association in my constituency, which is signed by 1,128 residents and concerns land for which the association has planning permission for allotments and a wildlife site, but on which the owners, Rail Property Limited, are seeking permission to build flats.
- Declares that allotment land and wildlife areas in urban environments, such as the allotment land adjacent to 55 Highcroft Villas, Brighton should be preserved, protected and enhanced for the benefit of local people.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to do all in his power to prevent building developments from taking place on allotment land in general and specifically on the land at Highcroft Villas Brighton.
Burials and Cremations
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Allen.]
7.1 pm
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): I am delighted to have been granted this debate, especially as the Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng), will reply. I understand that he has cancelled an overseas visit to reply--or so one of his ministerial colleagues told me.
The matter is serious. Some people may feel that the debate should have taken place in January when we had major problems with funeral delays, but I have waited nine weeks to get it. It would have been more relevant then, but I want to try to ensure that we never again have the problems that we experienced this January.
I ask my right hon. Friend to cast his mind back to January, when we had a flu epidemic. We saw vivid pictures on television--hospital morgues were full and refrigerated vehicles had to be put in hospital car parks to store the bodies because they could not be buried directly and on time.
At the time, the view was that it was a national health service problem. The reality is that the NHS was left with the problem and the cause lies elsewhere. During this debate, I shall discuss what went wrong and how, perhaps, this Parliament and the Government can help to put it right.
There is no doubt that the way in which we dealt with the problem varied during the flu outbreak in January. In some parts of Essex, for example, bereaved relatives had to wait more than two weeks to bury their loved ones. In one area, cremations were delayed by more than a month, although the customary wait was four or five days.
That sort of delay has awful consequences. In one family, an elderly lady died and her daughter flew in from America to be told that the burial could not take place for two weeks. She returned to the United States, but shortly afterwards her father died. She flew back to this country and was told that the burial could not take place for nearly a month. Again, she had to return home to America and miss the funeral. On top of the sadness of bereavement, people had the trauma of being unable to attend the funeral.
In this country, a funeral is a great tradition. It is a watershed in the grieving process. After the funeral we continue to grieve, but we try to put our lives back together. That is not possible if one has to wait a month for the funeral. In many areas, one finishes work when a close family member dies and one does not return until after the funeral. That cannot happen if the funeral takes place a month after the death. People are left in emotional limbo.
I am not raising this matter because I have a problem in my constituency--quite the reverse. Carlisle has an excellent burial and bereavement service. I pay special tribute to Mr. Ken West, the bereavement service manager of the city council, and his staff for the dedicated way in which they not only ensure that the services are efficient, but work towards improving them and making sure that the bereaved are consulted as well as comforted. The standard in Carlisle is very high--only this week it received national recognition. I congratulate the staff and Mr. Ken West.
It is not as though the fact that there are more deaths in the winter than in the summer is any surprise. I have statistics on mortality from the House of Commons Library from 1841 to 1997--more than 150 years. The common factor is that during the winter months, between January and March, there is a 20, 25 or 30 per cent. increase in the number of deaths in this country compared with the summer quarter. We have always known that, but now we have statistics going back 150 years showing it to be the case. So why are we so ill prepared?
I would like to discuss what I believe to be the main reasons for delays in funeral services and for the differing standards throughout the country. The main cause for concern is that there is no industry standard for bereavement services or funeral delays. For example, this winter there were delays of up to four weeks in Romford. I understand that in Shrewsbury, in the winter, it is not unusual to have delays in excess of two weeks. In Carlisle, the maximum delay was eight days. That was during the flu epidemic; it was nothing to do with any problems with the burial service, but with the fact that the funeral directors could not cope.
There are variations. There are no Government targets. This is a very sensitive issue, and I believe that people expect the Government to set a standard. I hope that their best value policy will change the situation. That is assuming that the Audit Commission sees waiting times as a performance indicator which should be met by all local authorities.
At present, there is only one industry standard. The voluntary charter of bereavement was written by Mr. Ken West, the Carlisle bereavement manager, in 1997 for the Institute of Burial and Cremation Administration. It is a very interesting document, which gives performance targets. It says that charter members should specify maximum funeral waiting times and develop strategies for handling high death rates. Not only do charter members have a target, they know how to cope with the winter problems. Unfortunately, this is a voluntary code. There are only 30 or so charter members, which leaves more than 200 local authorities without a common standard, or any standard at all.
I come now to other factors. I do not think that people should be expected to work on bank holidays at Christmas and the new year, but that means a backlog of funerals in January. I see no reason why Christmas eve, for example, could not be a normal day for funerals, or why the hours during which funerals are held could not be extended in the period between Christmas and new year.
Finance is not the problem. Crematoriums are public facilities, but they are often very profitable. However, local authorities seem more keen on taking the money than on paying for extended days, more staff or overtime. That matter needs to be looked at seriously. Problems also arise with death certificates, post mortems and cremation certificates. Funeral directors cannot arrange a funeral until a death certificate or cremation certificate has been issued. Delays are often caused when doctors do not sign those certificates. The cremation certificate is not provided by the national health service. In fact, it costs £70 to get that certificate signed. It is up to the British Medical Association to ensure that there is adequate cover on hand to prevent delays in signing.
Facilities also need to be considered. Sometimes the people performing a cremation are very inefficient. In crematoriums with two chapels, both could be used at the same time. However, pressure of numbers sometimes causes cremators to reduce the length of funeral services. That cannot be right. People are entitled to a dignified funeral, and it is wrong to squeeze a service into 20 minutes because of pressure of numbers. We should look to increase the number of chapels available for such services.
The big problem is one of inflexibility. We have been doing things in certain ways for years. Local authorities do not really pay attention to cremations and funerals--I doubt that many councillors get telephoned with complaints about delays in funerals. People ring them because their bins have not been emptied, but not about funerals. Local authorities should think about that problem.
The private sector has moved in and built various facilities. In Bristol, for example, the waiting time for funerals has been reduced. However, local authorities still fear that that will cost them money. Planning obstructions seem to be put in the way of the construction of private facilities, so they cannot set up in competition with the public facilities and local authorities do not lose the income from funerals and cremations.
The National Association of Funeral Directors wrote to me on this matter giving reasons for the delays that have been suffered. First, it said that the extended Christmas holiday period--when there were an extra three or four days off--led to delays of up to four weeks. I accept that delays were caused, but they were not of four weeks. Secondly, the association said that doctors were not available to sign death certificates and that there was a backlog in the coroner's court. That deserves attention. Thirdly, it mentioned the increased incidence of deaths caused by the flu epidemic, and I accept that that happened. Finally, it said that the flu virus took a toll among people working in the cemeteries, and that problems arose when they took time off for illness. However, the association noted that crematoriums did not extend their hours of operation to allow more time for funerals to take place. The association's chief executive officer, Mr. Alan Slater, said that the delays were not the responsibility of the association, and I have to accept that.
In the past, there has been a cosy relationship between the association's members and local authorities. Everyone likes an easy day, working from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday, but the association's members know that their business will not disappear. They hold the monopoly in the market and, in their view, a funeral that is delayed can be slotted in later. I think that, in the main, local authorities were at fault for funeral delays this winter.
It would seem that the National Association of Funeral Directors has a problem with charging. Charges have increased for funerals throughout the country by about 25 per cent. in the past two years. It has been suggested that that is because major companies are moving in, taking over the old, traditional family businesses, exploiting the situation and increasing prices. I do not want to go into that today, but it may be something for the Competition Commission to examine in future.
Instead, I shall suggest where the Government fit into the issue. They seem not to have a role or to take a role. My right hon. Friend is a Home Office Minister who deals, of course, with Home Office legislation. There are,
of course, Ministers who deal with the health aspects, the consumer problems and the social fund implications of funerals. We need to have a Government who are more proactive in this area who will set high standards for the service throughout the country. I would welcome an in-depth assessment of the industry by the Audit Commission and the setting of national benchmarks by which all authorities could be judged.The voluntary charter for bereavement could form the basis of a policy that would be developed to ensure that no matter where someone lives, or more importantly where he dies, there will be a quality of service of which that person and the bereaved can be assured. Best practice would thereby be assured.
I hope that the Government will consider these matters. They have been told that there is a problem, and I look forward to my right hon. Friend's response. Perhaps I might meet him soon, or one of his colleagues, to consider how we might make progress. We cannot allow the same problem to confront us next year. If that happens, the House and the Government must bear some of the responsibility.
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