Dundee City Council has spent almost £11,000 in the last two years on funerals for poor people.
There have been 41 cases where someone has died either without their own means to pay for a burial or cremation or where no relatives could be found to pick up the bill.
Subsequent inquiries found that most of the deceased had either left no estates or had only small sums, ranging from pennies to a few hundred pounds.
One of the people given a welfare funeral was, however, later discovered to have left £20,000.
This was passed to the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer, who is the Crown’s representative in Scotland who deals with ownerless property.
Every three years the council invites tenders from funeral directors for the provision of burial or cremation services, required under the National Assistance Act of 1948.
The current price is £391 for a burial and £963 for a cremation.
The council funding pays for the use of rest and service rooms, the cremation or interment fee, a doctor’s fee if required and a hearse.
