Calls to rethink £200,000 rise in burial and cremation fees

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to increase burial and cremation fees by more than £200,000 next year in a south Wales county should be reconsidered, the leader of the opposition said.

Cllr Chris Holley, speaking at a scrutiny meeting in which council leader Rob Stewart and finance director Ben Smith elaborated on budget proposals for 2026-27, said the proposed hike in Swansea seemed very large.

As things stand there is a requirement to make savings of £12.7 million. These can include increases in fees as well as budget cuts.

Among the proposals being put forward by the Labour administration is a £217,000 rise in cremation and burial fees.

“It does seem to be an extremely large increase considering some of the things we have done in the past,” said Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Holley. “It’s one that I would ask you to look at again.”

Cllr Stewart said the burial and cremation element of the cost of a funeral overall was relatively small and that the council was looking to be “competitively priced” in terms of providing this service.

Cllr Holley said he understood this but added it was a council service which people used at a traumatic time.

A council report said the authority’s cemeteries and cremations department, which runs seven cemeteries and a crematorium, was facing cost pressures.

The £12.7 million savings under consideration for 2026-27 also include a £200,000 increase in parking charges, a £301,000 rise in building services and waste income, and a whopping £2 million saving on energy costs.

Social services won’t escape the savings net. It’s proposed among other things that £1.2 million should be saved by commissioning fewer hours of domiciliary care from external providers, while a further £1 million saving could be made by paying external providers for the actual care they deliver rather than the planned delivery of care.

The bigger budget picture for 2026-27 is more positive. Although the council is facing inflation pressures and high demand in areas like homelessness and additional learning needs, it’s line to receive £27.3 million more money from the Welsh Government in 2026-27 than this year and all key departments will get extra cash.

Finance director Mr Smith said Swansea and Newport were due to get the highest percentage rise of Welsh Government funding out of Wales’ 22 council areas although this was because their populations were growing the fastest.

Mr Smith said schools in Swansea were due to get £12.2 million extra next year which he described as “a very generous offer” from a Welsh council perspective.

But it remains the case that council tax is likely to go up. The council has launched a consultation on its budget proposals which runs until February 6, and it will be after that point that an actual percentage increase will be proposed by cabinet and debated and set by full council.

Mr Smith outlined a number of risks hovering around council finances, such as uncertainty over grants and potential equal pay claims, but he appeared to be fairly relaxed about them. “All of those warnings and caveats are very much about, ‘Can we have triple chocolate frosting on the double chocolate cake?’” he said.

The service improvement, regeneration and finance scrutiny meeting went on to hear that planning fee income was behind expectations this year, which concerned Cllr Holley. “It means people are not investing,” he said.

Mr Smith said planning fees had been frozen for years by the Welsh Government prior to December 1, 2025, when rises started to take effect.

Cllr Stewart said planning fee income was also being impacted by guidance issued from Natural Resources Wales aimed at curbing high nutrient levels in marine special areas of conservation, including the Loughor Estuary. This is holding back housing developments.

“We are trying our best to work as part of the (marine nitrates) taskforce with the Welsh Government to try and navigate those issues,” said Cllr Stewart.