Council hiking cost of weddings and funerals in Sandwell after predicted income falls £1.3m short

Sandwell Council has revealed it plans to hike a host of its fees and charges from January 1 including burials and cremations, weddings as well as increase the price of collecting garden waste.

The majority of fees and charges for weddings and funerals in Sandwell would rise between seven and 10 per cent. 

The cost of a burial would rise by 10 per cent from £1,281 to £1,409 and the price for a grave in Sandwell would also increase by 10 per cent from £2,389 to £2,628. A plot for cremated remains will also cost 10 per cent more increasing to £1,762. The cost of burying a pet would also rise by the same percentage. 

Charges for hiring venues, catering, drinks, alcohol and various memorials would all also rise.

Garden waste collections would rise from £35 to £40 a year under the proposals by Labour-run Sandwell Council.

The local authority said it had seen a drop in expected income of more than £1.3 million and will be increasing fees to recuperate some of the money.

The cabinet report said the council was making less money than it had predicted from burials and cremations and not enough from planning and building regulation fees. 

The financial forecasts show £650,000 in reduced income from planning application fees – with the council blaming “economic conditions” – and £200,000 from building regulation fees. The council’s registry office, which includes  has made £680,000 less than expected. 

The move is set to be approved at the last cabinet meeting of the year on December 4 – just a month before the price hike would come into force on January 1. 

The cabinet report said: “The current overspends, due to under-recovery of income, mean that residents who are not using the services are subsidising the cost of them more than was intended within the budget that was set, and therefore to mitigate that position in part, it is recommended that fees and charges are increased in year, in order to increase income generation and reduce the subsidy on the services.”

Sandwell Council also plans huge hikes in fees for providing planning advice with most prices set to at least double.

The ‘pre-application’ service offered by the council is designed to ‘iron out’ potential problems before a planning application is submitted for a decision. 

Feedback on the applications, which found range from small extensions to huge estates, is provided a council planning officer but that does not guarantee the application would be approved. 

The fee for a proposed extension would nearly double to £100 and asking about changing the use of a building would more than double to £250.

Developments with up to four homes or less than 10,000 square metres of floorspace would also incur a larger £250 fee. The price for five homes or more, or 10,000 square metres or more, in the application would nearly triple to £1,000.