FOI release

Paupers Funerals 01/05/2026

This request was refused in full, so we didn't provide the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2026/01631

Received 10 July 2026

Published 15 July 2026

Request

This is a new request for new information only. This is not a repeat request.

1. full names of deceased persons,

2. dates of death,

3. marital status,

4. maiden surnames of married or widowed females,

5. dates of birth or ages at death,

6. last known addresses,

7. estimated value of estates,

8. date(s) when the information was passed (or information that is about to be or likely to be passed) to the Government Legal Department (formerly Treasury Solicitor) or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall or any other 3rd party, or, confirmation that this will not be happening and the reason why.

If your authority holds this information on your website, please confirm whether or not your website information is up to date and provide a link to this. If it is not please provide full details of any unpublished cases, as per the questions above.

I should be grateful if you would supply the information as soon as convenient.

Response

This is a new request for new information only. This is not a repeat request.

Please could you kindly send me any information you may hold relating to 'public health act' or 'welfare' or 'contract' or 'paupers' funerals having taken place or due to take place, and/or persons who have died with no known next of kin since 1/5/26 to the day of your reply. Please include:

1. full names of deceased persons,
2. dates of death,
3. marital status,
4. maiden surnames of married or widowed females,
5. dates of birth or ages at death,
6. last known addresses,
7. estimated value of estates,
8. date(s) when the information was passed (or information that is about to be or likely to be passed) to the Government Legal Department (formerly Treasury Solicitor) or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall or any other 3rd party, or, confirmation that this will not be happening and the reason why.

If your authority holds this information on your website, please confirm whether or not your website information is up to date and provide a link to this. If it is not please provide full details of any unpublished cases, as per the questions above.

I should be grateful if you would supply the information as soon as convenient.

Answer: In response to Questions 1 and 2, this information is available via the following link:

Public health funerals and Freedom of Information - Herefordshire Council

We have been publishing this information since 2019 because it means the public do not have to make FOI requests for it. The information is published as and when a public health funeral takes place. As such this information is exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

Details of any funerals which may have taken place since 1^st May 2026 to date but have not yet been published are considered to be exempt under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the grounds that the data is intended for future publication.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test and, accordingly, I have weighed the reasons for and against disclosure in the public interest as follows:

Public interest in disclosure:

· Openness and transparency regarding the information held on public health funerals, the early provision of which may be of benefit to certain individuals who may have an entitlement to the estate of the deceased.

Public interest in non-disclosure:

· Herefordshire Council is not refusing to disclose the information, but is following a defined course of action before the information is made public.

· The details of public health funerals for those with no known next of kin are published on the council's website quarterly. Due to the relatively few public health funerals which take place in Herefordshire we consider this to be reasonable.

Taking the above into consideration, I find the public interest in non-disclosure outweighs the public interest in disclosure. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

3. Marital status

4. Maiden surnames of married or widowed females

5. Dates of birth or ages at death

In response to Questions 3-5, all of this information is contained within the death certificate, copies of which are available from Hereford Registry Office, who can be contacted as follows:

Hereford Registry Office

Town Hall

St. Owen's Street

Hereford

HR1 2PJ

As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is available to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

6. Last known addresses

We consider this information to be exempt under Section 31(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information if it would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Providing details of the last known address, which is likely to be empty, would increase the risk of break in / burglary / trespass at that property. I therefore consider that in this instance Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act is engaged.

This particular exemption is subject to the public interest test, and I have weighed up the reasons for and against disclosure as follows:

Public interest in disclosure:

· Openness and transparency regarding the records that the council holds in respect of its part in the process of administering public health funerals in Herefordshire.

· There is an interest for certain individuals who may have an entitlement to the estate of a particular deceased person and / or organisations enabling individuals to exercise that entitlement, where such an estate exists.

Public interest in non-disclosure:

· Disclosure would identity a residential property as empty, thereby making it vulnerable to vandalism, squatting and criminal action, such as 'stripping' i.e. the removal of copper pipes and floorboards.

· Depending on the amount of time that has lapsed, the property may still contain the personal effects of the deceased, and disclosing the address could make that property vulnerable to the theft of these items. This would place a strain on public resources such as the police, and would also affect the council's ability to reclaim the cost of the funeral from any money or items in the deceased person's estate. If a relative did happen to be located at a later date the theft of such items would cause the damage and distress.

· If a property was vandalised, etc. as a result of disclosure, this would have a negative impact on the surrounding neighbourhood. Once an area is subject to crime, it has an impact on an area, reducing the value of neighbouring properties and the quality of life of the residents. If the property was owned by a landlord there would be an associated cost to them incurred in repairing damages, legal costs for removal of trespassers and the costs in re-securing the property.

· Disclosure could also enable criminals to physically intercept mail or set up mail redirection from the deceased's address to their own e.g. correspondence from bank or building societies. Consequently the person intercepting the mail would be enabled to access and use the deceased's accounts and to fraudulently obtain credit cards and / or loans and purchase goods without paying for them.

In this instance the public interest favours withholding the information. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

7. Estimated value of estates

This particular exemption is subject to the public interest test, and accordingly I have weighed up the reasons for and against disclosure in the public interest as follows:

Public interest in disclosure:

· Openness and transparency regarding the records holds regarding public health funerals and the estates of the deceased.

· There is an interest for certain individuals who may have an entitlement to the estate of a particular deceased person and / or organisation enabling individuals to exercise that entitlement where such an estate exists.

Public interest in non-disclosure:

· Revealing details of an estate before the Government Legal Department has undertaken its own enquiries would provide an opportunity for a criminal act to take place and consequently increase the risk of fraudulent claims being made against the estate.

· Those individuals who believe they have an entitled relative can find out more information from the Bona Vacantia website.

· Release of the details of the value of an estate prior to an estate being secured could adversely affect any relatives of the deceased who may subsequently be found. They would be financially affected if they are the heirs to an estate which had been stolen from as a result of a fraudulent claim.

In this instance the public interest favours withholding the information. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

8. Date(s) when the information was passed (or information that is about to be or likely to be passed) to the Government Legal Department (formerly Treasury Solicitor) or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall or any other 3rd party, or, confirmation that this will not be happening and the reason why.

Details of whether or not the case has been passed onto the Government Legal Department are published on the council's website and can be viewed via the link provided above. As such this information is except under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is available to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.

The council has not passed the details onto any third parties, however this information is publicly available so they can access it themselves.

9. If your authority holds this information on your website, please confirm whether or not your website information is up to date and provide a link to this. If it is not please provide full details of any unpublished cases, as per the questions above.

It is published please see above link. Regarding cases which are due to be published please see response to Question 1.

This response provides information up until 15^th July 2026 inclusive. If you wish to submit a further FOI request for it (taking into account what is already published / exempt and considering the time / costs incurred by the council in responding to such requests) we consider that it would be reasonable for any further request to be for information on funerals occurring after 15^th July 2026.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.