2017

 

CEM053 - Dealing with funeral service which overrun - 20.11.17

A member authority is trying to find out how crematoriums, deal
with services that run over. They are particularly interested in finding
information on the following:

• How many chapels does your local authority have?
• What is your service length?
• Do you offer additional time, if so, in what increments and at what charge?
• What, if any, penalties do you apply if funeral services run over?

The enquiring authority has one chapel and currently offers 30
minute slots and are considering extending them to 40mins.

It has proved difficult to compare with their nearest neighbours as
most of them have two chapels and can alternate between them.

 

CEM052 - Burial Software systems - 20.11.17

A member authority is looking for information on the types of
software burial authority member are using with regards to those
system which are able to upload burial plans, allocates burial plots
and produces digging tickets, etc.

 

CEM051 - Unauthorised re-erection of unsafe memorials/headstones - 06.11.17

Within their Cemeteries a member authority is increasingly finding
that memorials identified as unsafe and laid down as part of our
safety inspection programme are been put back up without any
repairs taking place, leaving them in a dangerous condition.

They have had two incidents in recent months, one resulting in a
member of staff being injured, when these unsafe memorials have
fallen whilst staff have been cutting the grass around them.
When they have checked their records they have found that they
had previously been inspected, identified as unsafe, and after no
response from the last known grave owner, laid down by their
Memorial Safety Team.

Therefore the enquiring authority is wanting to know if other
authorities have experienced this problem and what action they took
to prevent it.
 

 

CEM050 - Development of volunteers to maintain closed churchyards/cemeteries – 061117

A member authority is looking for information in relation to using
Volunteer Groups to undertake maintenance duties within Closed
Churchyards and possibly Cemeteries.
They wish to know if any other authorities use Volunteer Groups to
undertake maintenance activities such as strimming, grass cutting etc.

If so:

• How were volunteer groups established, promoted etc.?
• How are they supported by the authority, supply of equipment etc.?
• Have they been successful / sustainable?
• Has it contributed to any significant cost savings on maintenance?
• Have standards been maintained, numbers of cuts etc. or have they been reduced?

The sharing of any policies / documents would be gratefully received

 

CEM049 - Public Health Burials - 17.10.17

A member authority’s Bereavement Services undertakes all the
arrangements for Public Health Burials for the authority, including
tracing any next of kin and property searches to try to find financial
information to allow them to recover costs. Searches are
undertaken by two authorised officers and any items removed are
photographed and verified by a third officer etc.

A recent internal audit has highlighted these practices as
unacceptable risks and have recommended using an independent
person / body to assist with property searches to reduce the risk.

The member authority is enquiring as to what do other authorities
do when undertaking Property Searches, who do they use etc.

Copies of any policies would be useful.

 

CEM048 - Responsibility for closed churchyards - 17.10.17

A member authority is looking for information on how other
authorities approach being given the responsibility for closed
churchyards particularly with reference to any dangerous structures
they may contain.

 

CEM047 - Sharing of grave owner details - 22.09.17

A member authority is enquiring about the passing on of grave
owner information.

They currently do not provide the name and details of the grave
owner if not known by the family and this has historically been the
case due to Data Protection, however Funeral Directors within the
council area have mentioned that a number of neighbouring
authorities do freely give this information out.

As such they are wondering what other authorities do regarding this
matter.

 

CEM046 - Cremation Bonds - 22.09.17

A member authority wishes to discover information regarding Cremation Bonds.

They would like to know if any members are selling cremation bonds and what the scale of income is.

 

CEM045 - Reducing surface water during grave construction - 07.09.17

A member authority is trying to present mitigation measures to the
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to deal with the
issue of lack of percolation within sites, and surface water going into
graves and pooling that could give rise to anaerobic conditions
following interment. Please note groundwater levels are not an
issue in the site.

They are keen to hear from any UK local authorities how they deal
with this issue. In particular they wish to receive information on the
following:

1. Pooling of water in graves - is waterlogging only an issue when opening up a new lair/grave, or is water pumped out for 2nd and 3rd coffin interments? And what methods are used to remove or reduce pooling of water, and where is the excess water deposited?
2. In relation to seepage, what alternative methods do local authorities use to prevent seepage of water, e.g. covering of lairs/graves, use of materials, digging deeper then infilling with stone, wood chip etc. and has any council dealt with this problem through the use of surface water pits or underground drainage.
3. When grey water is removed where is taken i.e. pumped into nearby drains?
4. Has any authority reduced the capacity of graves e.g. to 2 coffin spaces to prevent the problem of seepage.
5. During the construction of lairs/graves what is the local authority’s procedure is for dealing with field drains when found i.e. is alternative drainage provided particularly if field drains are destroyed?

 

CEM044 - Use of candles or fire in funeral services or left at memorials - 07.09.17

A member authority has stated that although their customer-base is
not very diverse, they do try and cater for all religious (and nonreligious)
needs.

A frequent request they receive is to allow candles to be lit in the
crematoria chapels, which they have tended to discourage due to
the odour left for the next services and the possible fire-risk.

They are therefore interested in any crematoria (maybe in areas
with larger e.g. Hindu or Zoroastrian populations) where candles
(fire) are permitted and what their policy or approach is and who
they have involved in creating the policy etc.

Also do member burial/cremation authorities allow fire to be used in
graveside services or fire sources (e.g. joss sticks) left on
memorials/graves. Again they would be interested in seeing any
policies or hearing about approaches taken.

 

GM0547 - Grazing on cemetery land and the use of grass retardants - 01.06.17

A member authority is enquiring whether any other local authorities
have been approached to allow sheep to graze in older parts of the
cemetery as a grounds maintenance measure?

The member authority is also interested to discover if any
colleagues have experience of using a growth retardant on
cemetery grass, as they historically do not allow weed killing around
memorials. and since the introduction of new legislation around
vibration, the current use of strimmers, is becoming less viable.

As such they would welcome any ideas from other authorities on
how to deal with this issue.

 

GM0533 - Provision of Muslim graves – 08.02.17

 A member authority is looking for advice from any other Local
Authority which is operating a Muslim cemetery or Muslim section
within a Cemetery in a heavy clay soil and the associated problems
of ground water runoff, poor drainage and a high water table. We
are looking to open a new Muslim section in heavy clay soil and
would appreciate advice and guidance on:

1. How do authorities deal with this problem
2. Are graves lined in any way and if so does it work?
3. How are the graves sealed?
4. Advice on any other problems and solutions identified.

 

CEM042 - Privacy Notices - 25.07.17

A member authority is enquiring regarding the introduction of the
new GDPR legislation which will be live from 25 May 2018 . An
explanation of Privacy notices can be found below:

“Privacy notices tell our customers and staff what to expect when
the council collects their personal information. A privacy notice
should exist at every point that we collect data, be it verbally e.g. via
the contact centre or personal interview, in writing on a form or other
documentation or electronically via a website or other online
service.

The introduction of the new GDPR legislation, which replaces the
current Data Protection Act from 25th May 2018 requires privacy
notices to be clear, transparent and easily accessible to staff and to
any of our customers including children. To enable the council to
comply with the GDPR all current privacy notices must reviewed,
any gaps identified and new notices written. This also includes
notices given by other organisations who collect data on behalf of
the council.”

Privacy Notices are going to apply not only to local authorities but
also to funeral directors and memorial masons too.
The enquiring authority has looked at the ‘best practice’ examples
on the Information Commissioners Office website but examples
seem to be targeted for web based and/or sales use which they feel
doesn’t really apply to Bereavement Servoices at the moment.
They are therefore enquiring whether any councils have some
samples / suggestions of appropriate notices / wording that could be
used ?

 

CEM041 - Columbarium Pricing Structure - 17.07.17

A member authority is asking whether any other authorities have
Columbarium and if so what lease options they have implemented
to bereaved families regarding leasing options of 5 & 10 & 25 years
and what their current prices are.

They would also like to know if any authority has a different price
structure according to the position of the plaque on the columbaria.

 

CEM040 - Small excavating machine for digging graves - 17.07.17

A member authority has for a number of years used a Lewis Badger
digging machine to excavate graves. The machine is small enough
to get between the rows of graves without causing damage.

Several years ago they went to replace one of their Lewis Badger
machines and found they were no longer being made.

They are there enquiring whether any authority uses a machine:

• that isn’t tracked,
• is small enough to easily access graves in sections where burials have already taken place.

The authority is aware that they could use a larger digger for
excavations on new sections, but not in ones where burials have
taken place – especially for pre-purchased graves in the middle of
rows.

 

CEM039 - Bird damage in cemeteries - 10.07.17

A member authority has had a number of complaints from grave
owners regarding damage to flowers on grave plots and of
someone pulling flowers out of their pots that are integrated into the
headstone bases.

Initially it was thought it may be vandals, but following the police
leaving a temporary camera at the cemetery, it became apparent
that it is wildlife, and in particular crows, that are causing the
damage.

The cemetery has been open since 2009 and this is the first year
that we have experienced this issue.

The enquiring authority has suggested that grave owners try
artificial flowers but this doesn’t seem to have helped.

Does any local authority have any suggestions as to how the
enquiring authority can tackle this problem?

 

CEM038 - Cemetery and crematoria software systems - 10.07.17 

A member authority will be building and running its own
crematorium and are looking at system software for running the
services for both cemeteries and crematoria.

They are currently use Civica but will shortly be having
demonstrations of Clear Skies (BACAS), Gower Epilog and Epitaph
Edge IT Systems.

They are enquiring whether memberscould provide any feedback on
the systems they currently use and also if there are any reviews with
the intention of changing from/to any of those mentioned.

 

CEM037 - Emergency crematoria technician cover - 03.07.17

A member authority is looking to put into place structure and
support for their Crematoria, and an aspect of that is emergency
cover, particularly in needing qualified crematorium technicians.

Have any member authorities had to use any organisations which
can provide such services and if so can they provide contact details.

 

CEM036 - New burial/cemetery space - 03.07.17

A member authority is interested to find out from members the
following:

• Specifications for a new burial/cemetery space including consultants brief,
• consultants used and costs,
• build specifications and costs,
• business case for sustainability.

If members are unable to provide this level of detail, could they
indicate if they have built a new cemetery in the last seven year and
a key contact with whom the enquiring authority could have a
conversation with.

 

CEM035 - Scattering of cremated remains across formal parks and open spaces - 20.06.17

Would other authorities share their policies or advise if they allow
the scattering of cremated remains across formal parks and open
spaces?

• If they allow the scattering of cremated remains, how do they manage the request and maintain records.
• What issues have they experienced and how have they overcome them?
• The enquiring authority have had a request on the above but they do not currently have a specific policy and their initial thoughts are that they restrict the scattering of ashes to cemetery grounds.

 

CEM034 - New cemetery developments - 20.06.17

A member authority would be interested to receive any details from
other member authorities who have developed a new piece of land
just for cemetery use in the last 5 years, in particular:

• How long it took from start to finish.
• Did it include roadways, access and buildings?

 

CEM033 - Filming of crematoria staff during funeral services - 06.06.17

A member authority is looking to clarify the position of colleague
authorities i