Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Yes, in local government. Only last week, 625 miners lost their jobs at the Bickershaw colliery, and the week before, 220 people were made redundant at a textile mill. The borough is already involved in a grim economic scenario, and needs all the help and encouragement that it can get. What will the proposed cuts mean? A minimum of about 400 teachers will lose their jobs somewhere along the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Does the Minister concede that the You Care group made a year's profit of £500,000 on a turnover of £2·5 million? Does that not reflect a balance? The Minister talks about competitiveness. Surely this is a classic example of how one company can out-compete another?
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Twelve years.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: rose——
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The explanation is simple and well known to the House. The Co-op owned more than the Monopolies and Mergers Commission criteria. It had 25 per cent. of the industry and was made to get rid of the House of Fraser, which Hodgson Holdings PHK—Kenyan Securities—bought immediately afterwards. It then added to that to create another monopoly, so it is swings and roundabouts—robbing Peter to...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I am trying to give the facts. I said that the Co-operative Wholesale Society was allowed to retain 25 per cent. of the industry. In this case, the surplus was the House of Fraser, which was immediately snapped up by another big company in the industry, the name of which I have already given.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I beg to move, That this House considers there is a need for an investigation into prices and practices of the funeral industry with a view to seeking to provide a Bill to establish a funeral industry registration council and to give that council powers and functions for the regulation of firms and individuals offering funeral services and arrangements; to provide the council with powers and...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: If the motion were accepted, and a registration council were set up, I should like it to embrace all four countries in the United Kingdom. I referred to the Adjournment debate on this subject in 1989. In view of the time constraints, one is restricted in one's comments in such a debate. Indeed, the convention is that the time is shared equally between the Member raising the subject and the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I shall give the name later. In fact, since the takeover, the name has changed. The firm is now owned by a multinational company. Later, I shall refer in great detail to it and to other companies. When I wrote a letter to that company, I received a reply similar to that sent to my constituent, but I was pleased that it included a £100 refund. Within a matter of weeks, there was a similar...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I have no knowledge that that is the case, and it was not covered by the investigation that I mentioned.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The National Association of Funeral Directors represents a respected and honourable profession, and I shall refer to it in due course. I shall also give more figures later, but there has been some response to the inquiry's findings in respect of that earlier code of conduct. I shall quote also the new code of conduct that was adopted in May 1990.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Municipal authorities are not allowed to own any form of funeral company. They are permitted only to provide a service, and it cannot be related to any element of the community charge under existing legislation—and I do not imagine that such a thing will be allowed in any future legislation. There are approximately 650,000 funerals a year, but the number is declining, and I shall explain...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: In recent months, other large companies have decided to sell. The reason is all to do with investment and profit margins, and I do not exclude any organisation of whatever size and character from criticism—and in some cases compliments. I shall return to that issue. In 1989, on average, the cost of funerals increased by 28 per cent. more than inflation and there was some harsh criticism,...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I have had many dealings with it, especially with its previous chief executive. After a brilliant entrepreneurial career, unfortunately he has recently left the company. Far be it from me to speculate about the reasons; I do not know. However, I admire the entrepreneurial skill with which the company that my hon. Friend mentioned was built up. Its turnover increased from £14,000 to about...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: My hon. Friend is right. Good will is attached to the name of small family undertakers. I discussed the problem with Mr. Hodgson. These large companies are employing high-profile publicity methods. Actors and acresses are used, including Sir Harry Secombe, who sings on some of the tapes. Incidentally, that firm is no longer called Hodgson Holdings but PHK International, and it has a French...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I shall reply to that question by repeating what I said to Howard Hodgson: "If you want a Rolls-Royce or Marks and Spencer image, why do you still retain the identity of the village undertaker? If you seek to raise the standards of professionalism and commercialism, why do you do that?" There is no answer. With respect, one would not suggest that, because bookmakers have lifted themselves up,...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I have sought some financial advice on this, although I am not a steward of the industry. One funeral director of a large company, who has a prominent position in the region, wrote to me off the record and asked me not to repeat that people would do far better by putting their money into a building society account or a long-term national savings certificate.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: There is a partial commitment to honour a high percentage of the funeral costs, but there is always, as in hire purchase agreements, a clause at the bottom of the page. There are about five schemes. Some firms say that the costs are not fully covered under the insurance, and there is some controversy about whether a company should offer 100 per cent. protection. Such schemes condition...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The hon. Gentleman will understand the relationship between Gladstone and the new Minister for Funerals should that right hon. Gentleman enter the Conservative Cabinet. He has been in every party, so what is wrong with having a Liberal background? Gladstone said: Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the number of health authorities currently in deficit.
