All-Party Parliamentary Group for Funerals and Bereavement

All-Party groups are informal, cross-party interests groups. They are not part of the official structure of the Houses of Parliament and are therefore not accorded any role or powers by it.

The APPG for Funerals and Bereavement was set up and first registered in May 2002 and is chaired by Lorely Burt, Labour MP for Solihull.

The group is required to register the names of its officers, and a minimum of 20 qualifying members.

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) pays Politics Direct to provide secretarial services to the group.

Groups may or may not receive support from other organisations but if they do so and the benefit received by the group is below a certain financial value which is currently £1500.00 per calendar year, there is no requirement for the group to register it. ‘Financial benefits’ means money received by the group (e.g donations, grants, subscriptions). ‘Material benefits’ means the provision of goods or services-not money (eg administrative services, hospitality, gifts.

How groups keep their accounts is up to them, except that they must keep sufficient records to be able to meet the registration requirements detailed in the Guide to the Rules on All-Party Groups. Any member of either House may turn up and speak at any meeting of any group; anyone else may only attend if invited by the group. Groups have no official status in Parliament. Hence although some basic information about them is registered they are in most regards subject to a light regulatory regime, but are no under any lawful obligation to make their minutes or accounts publicly available.

It seems clear from an announcement made by NAFD after former Prime Minister Gordon Brown became prime minister, that the APPG for Funerals and Bereavement acts like a lobby group:

When Gordon Brown reshuffled his team after taking office as Prime Minister this summer, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) wasted no time in seeking consultation with key Ministers on issues that are of concern to the funeral profession…. A General Election would have resulted in a further reshuffle, so Gordon Brown’s decision not to go to the country means the All Party Parliamentary Funerals and Bereavement Group can continue to develop its excellent relationships and solicit the support of the new Ministers.

Members

As of September 2015, the officers of this group include:

• Mark Pawsey - Conservative Party - Chair
• Rosie Cooper - Labour - Vice-chair
• David Amess - Conservative Party - Vice-chair
• Julian Knight - Conservative Party - Vice-chair
• Ronnie Cowan - SNP - Vice-chair

As of July 2010, members of this group are:

• Lorely Burt MP - chair
• Mark Pawsey MP co vice-chair
• David Amess MP co vice-chair
• Rosie Cooper co vice-chair
• Jenny Willott | Hugh Dykes | Mike Hancock | John Hemming | Peter Bottomley | Nigel Evans | Nadhim Zahawi | George Foulkes | Tom Clarke | Jim Cunningham | Dave Watts | Helen Goodman |Joan Wally | Frank Dobson | Paul Goggins | Dr. William McCrea

As of March 2010, members of this group were:

• Bill Olner - chair
• Robert Goodwill | Janet Dean | David Amess | Jim Cunningham | Ronnie Campbell | Eric Martlew | Rosie Cooper | Ken Purchase | Betty Williams | Dave Watts | Ian Stewart | Peter Bottomley | Alistair Burt | Kenneth Clarke | Nigel Evans | Lorely Burt | Hugh Dykes | Mike Hancock | Paul Holmes

Secretariat

The National Association of Funeral Directors pays Brevia Consulting, a private consultancy, to act as the groups secretariat, as well as funding an annual luncheon for the group.

Benefits

It was registered on 2 June 2015 that Brevia Consulting had been paid (in bands of £1,500) £25,501-£27,000 in fees to be the groups secretariat.

Contact

Will Smith, representative of Brevia, is the group's public inquiry point.

Address: 5 Salamanca Place, London SE1 7HP

Tel: 0207 091 1650

Email: will.smith@brevia.co.uk

Lobbying firms

Former lobbying firms

• Brevia Consulting