The dead are to be asked to help balance the books at Fenland Council with burial costs at all six of their cemeteries set to rise by nearly 20 per cent. It will mean, for instance, that it will cost the family of anyone being buried in the ‘lawn area’ of a council cemetery will, from April, be charged £1,495 up from £1,250.
Five years ago, the cost would have been £780 – a 92 per cent increase in that time.
Fenland Council manages these cemeteries:
- Walsoken Cemetery
- Wisbech Cemetery
- Eastwood Cemetery March
- Chatteris Cemetery
- Whittlesey Cemetery
- Wisbech St Mary Cemetery
Burials, commercial waste, and fees at Wisbech port are the principal areas being targeted by the council in their determination to avoid any, or a minimal, increase in Council Tax.
“The draft budget report for 2025/26 highlights the significant financial challenges the council faces over the medium term and the scale of savings required,” says Peter Catchpole, corporate director and Mark Saunders, chief finance officer.
Their report on fees and charges will be considered by the overview and scrutiny committee on January 20.
“The current and forecast economic climate dictates that the council’s charges have to remain sympathetic to local people’s ability to pay, whilst at the same time maximising income to the council.”
Despite the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation at September 2024 being only 1.7 per cent and at 2.6 per cent (November 2024), reducing slightly over the last twelve months from a rate of 3.9 per cent (November 2023), the officers say the proposed price increases across all council services have been reflected “where appropriate in the proposals for increases in 2025/26.
“The council is experiencing significant inflationary pressures relating to staff costs, energy and fuel costs, contract costs and supplies which are increasing at a higher rate than the prevailing CPI rate.
“Consequently, the majority of charges where we have discretion to amend are proposed to increase by between 2 per cent – 10 per cent depending on the type of charge.”
The increases planned “apart from planning fees and garden waste” were not included in the earlier draft budget.
The revised pricing structure is estimated to raise £177,610 “so this amount would reduce the current estimated shortfall for 2025/26.
Balancing the books at Fenland Council
“The estimated additional income assumes current usage/activity levels are maintained for 2025/26. Any reduction in the level of increases proposed or reduced usage/activity levels will reduce the estimated additional income.
“Consequently, alongside the proposed increases, the emphasis is also on maintaining or increasing usage/activity levels in order to maximise income”.
BURIAL GROUNDS
Examples of some of the proposed increases:
Interment fee for lawn area: £1,495 up from £1,250 (19.6 per cent)
Internment for traditional area: £1,600 up from £1,390 (15.1 per cent)
Internment of single casket or cremated remains: £480 up from £380 (26 per cent)
Internment of additional cremated remains at same time: £100 up from £75 (33.3 per cent)
Exclusive plot adult lawn area: £1,225 up from £990 (23.7 per cent)
Right to erect or place on grave monument, table, and inscription: £130 up from £115 (13 per cent)
Single vase not exceeding 10 inches in diameter and 8 inches in height: £125 up from £100 (25 per cent)
Provision of cemetery keys: £25 up from £20 (25 per cent)
Short notice fee interment (arrangements required less than 2 works days) £250 up from £115 (117.4 per cent rise)
WISBECH PORT – Statutory Harbour Dues (Wisbech & Sutton Bridge – Harbour
& Light Dues, Conservancy Dues, Pilotage Dues and Additional Charges)
Wharfage
Fenland Council is the statutory harbour authority for the River Nene from Wisbech to the Bar Flat Buoy in The Wash. The council is allowed to set charges to recover costs over a period of time, “a principle re-iterated by the Department for Transport who have previously emphasised that there should not be any ‘substantial or continuing subsidy from a local authority’s general funds to its port’”.
The finance report says: “These costs should be recovered from the charges levied on ships visiting Wisbech and Sutton Bridge using the harbour authority/pilotage service.
“However, as a result of a continuing significant downturn in the number of ships visiting Port Sutton Bridge (and to a lesser extent Wisbech) over the past few years, the income received falls significantly short of the costs to provide this service.”
Their report says: “A review of the port operations is ongoing in order to identify sustainable options over the medium and long-term. This will include a re-assessment of the costs of providing the service together with a charging policy which seeks to recover costs from the lower number of ships visiting the port.
Balancing the books at Fenland Council
“Without a significant reduction in costs and/or a significant increase in shipping numbers, this will inevitably lead to a substantial increase in charges.
“As an interim measure, pending the outcome of the review and to continue to reduce the deficit in operating these services, it is proposed to increase the statutory dues by 10 per cent (this follows a 25 per cent increase in 2024/25).”
The report says that as with the statutory fees, the income from commercial fees (mainly wharfage dues at Wisbech) falls significantly short of the costs of providing these services.
Based on the estimated number of ships visiting Wisbech and Port Sutton Bridge in 2025/26, the proposed 10 per cent increase in statutory and commercial dues would generate around an additional £45,300 income.
“However, this is entirely dependent on achieving the estimated ship numbers visiting the port. Consequently, this additional income is far from certain and should be treated with caution,” their report adds.
Commercial and Chargeable Household Waste Services
The report to the overview and scrutiny committee reminds members that the commercial waste services are subject to competition from the private sector.
“However, the service continues to be subject to higher than CPI cost increases, particularly in relation to staff costs, waste disposal costs, recycling sorting and treatment costs and fleet costs,” says the report.
“Consequently, all charges have increased with some by up to around 20 per cent. The proposed charges are still considered to be competitive.”
Of the Bulky Household Waste collection charge the officers say this has been rationalised in recent years to make the charges more transparent and easier to calculate for customers, thereby supporting the approach to reduce the appeal of illegal collection services.
Balancing the books at Fenland Council
“For 2025/26 the minimum fee is proposed to increase to £37.50 (for up to 5 items) with a proposed increase in each item above 5 to £7.50. This is to reflect the continued increases in service costs,” it recommends.
“With effect from April 2017, the council has been operating a chargeable garden waste service. Full details of the scheme and charges are contained in various reports to Members throughout the last seven years.
“As the charges for 2025/26 have already been set (annual subscription if paid by direct debit increased to £47 and if paid by debit card/cash, to increase to £59), the estimated financial impact of the scheme has been included in the draft budget 2025/26.”
However, there is some good news; for instance, fair operators visiting Chatteris, Whittlesey, March and Wisbech face modest increases of between 1.5 per cent to 2.22 per cent.
And if you are organising a conference at the council’s business centres in Chatteris (Fens Business Centre) and Wisbech (the Boathouse) coffee will only be charged at £1.50 a head instead of £2.70, a decrease of 44 per cent.
A jug of orange juice remains at £3.60
