THE council will provide headstones, plaques and crosses at cost price to the public as part of a new "memorialisation" service.
North East Lincolnshire Council bosses have decided to implement the scheme "at the earliest opportunity" after identifying a "healthy market" for memorials.
The Cemeteries and Crematorium Service receives about 224 applications each year for the right to erect a memorial within the council's cemeteries.
The move is an extension of the current service offered by the council, which includes the provision at cost price of vase plaques, wall plaques and above-ground vaults.
Council bosses say it will:
Widen the choice of memorials available to the bereaved.
Increase the range and quality of service on offer in line with other cemetery and crematorium operators.
Provide the general public with a service which demonstrates value for money.
Encourage and enable the provision of professionally installed headstones and memorials, rather than homemade and less robust memorabilia.
The new service will be run initially on a cost-recovery (non profit-making) charging basis but could be changed to a trading model if demand proved to be sufficient.
It will not be "exclusive" and residents will still be able to seek alternative providers.
The proposal to introduce a memorialisation service was first approved by Cabinet in August last year, but was the subject of a legal challenge by the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM), who expressed concern that the council would be competing with existing service providers.
However, the council's legal department has concluded that the council does have the statutory powers to provide the service under the terms of the 2011 Localism Act, and its recommendation to launch the new service was approved by Cabinet this week.
Councillor Ray Oxby, portfolio holder for environment and housing, said: "This will enhance accessibility to local services. There is an established market and we have staff trained up to the appropriate standard."Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
