Prices for a range of vital Isle of Wight services have risen — including cremations; burials; marriages and civil ceremonies.
The fee increases have been implemented after they were approved by the Isle of Wight Council in its budget earlier this year.
£300,015 bonus for council budget
The authority is expected to make £300,000 from the increase in fees and charges for the bereavement services and £15,000 from the regulatory services, based on a ten per cent increase.
In the regulatory services, however, the average price increase is roughly 28 per cent so the council could make more.
Wedding costs
Those looking to get married or have a civil partnership ceremony at a licensed venue will now have to pay between £520 and £625, depending on the day, compared to prices last year from £440 to £530.
If you were to get married in St Catherine’s Room at the council’s Register Office in Newport, you will now need to pay £55 more — jumping from £95 to £150.
To renew vows or hold a naming ceremony at the Register Office will now cost £145 (up from £100) or £220 at an approved premises (up from £175).
Crematorium costs
It is the third year in a row that cremation prices have risen, with the cost of a direct cremation — with no service or guests — having risen from £450 in 2021 to £650 in 2023 — a 44 per cent increase.
Since 2016, the price of an adult cremation has increased 81 per cent — from £644 to £1,169.
A single service fee — which includes cremation, the use of the organ and an organist — has increased 20 per cent on last year, jumping from £1,065 to £1,277.
Livestreaming
The controversial fee to charge families to livestream a service, which was introduced last year, has also increased from £55 to £66.
A new £12 cancellation fee for the livestream has been since been added.
Burial fees
While burial fees were frozen last year, most charges this year are being hiked up 20 per cent.
An adult burial will now cost £1,537 (up from £1,281), with the cost of a grave rising from £898 to £1,078.
Memorials will also cost more — with a granite memorial in the Baby Garden rising from £519 to £623.
For full lists of fees and charges, visit the council’s Website.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: © Isle of Wight Council
