The fundamental religious significance of a funeral could be further dimmed by an array of devices

The fundamental religious significance of a funeral could be further dimmed by an array of devices for making more money out of death.”. Under the Environmen- tal Protection Act, crematoria have to meet new smoke-emission standards, and the cost is likely to be at least pounds 450,000 to upgrade each crematorium.The Government has also told councils that they must get money from private sector partners or buyers before seeking any cash from taxpayers for the improvements.According to the funerals college only one private sector buyer has expressed any interest; Service Corporation International, an American funeral service company, has already acquired funeral directors covering 15 per cent of the United Kingdom funeral market.A college spokesman said: “The Government will be helping to create a monopoly, starting with a series of local monopolies linking local funeral directors to the local crematorium. Privatisation is to be rushed through, it seems, before the general election.”Local authorities are under financial pressure to raise funds for the cost of meeting new environmental regulations on pollution. Under the new regulations they will be able to keep for their general purposes 90 per cent rather than 50 per cent of the proceeds.”The inducement is to operate only for a period of 18 months from 1 January 1996.

“Up to now the grip of the central government has required councils to set aside 50 per cent of any crematoria sales and use it to redeem debt. The National Funerals College, which is writing to all the local authorities in Britain, claims the sale of council crematoria will lead to a mass takeover by one American funeral company.
Lord Young, a life peer and founding president of the funerals college, has laid down a motion in the House of Lords aimed at scuppering the Government’s planned privatisation of Britain’s 193 municipal crematoria.According to the funerals college, the Government plans to transfer these to the private sector “on as large a scale as possible”.It will offer councils a “bribe” to encourage them to sell, the college adds. PETER VICTOR

Lord Young of Dartington is spearheading an attempt to head off the privatisation of council crematoria. It added that the number of dangerous criminals probation workers deal with had more than doubled since 1983 to 14,000 in 1993.. The Prison Service is investigating the case.The announcement came on the day that a Government report was published, revealing the results of a survey in which one-third of the Hertfordshire probation staff who took part said they had experienced threats, abuse or assaults over a three-year period.Better training and risk assessment must be carried out, the report said.

Sams was jailed two years ago for the murder of Julie Dart and the kidnap of an estate agent, Stephanie Slater.
The National Association of Probation Officers claimed that no one had told its workers that Sams had been transferred to the prison’s B wing, where the incident took place.Its assistant general secretary Harry Fletcher also claimed that there had been complaints that Sams had made a number of threats, mainly against female members of staff. The Conservative Central Office briefing says introduction of this list is among measures to speed up decisions on people claiming asylum.. An inquiry was set up yesterday into prison security as it emerged that Michael Sams, a convicted killer, had made several threats before he tried to throttle a probation worker at Wakefield jail, writes Jason Bennetto. Sams, 53, attacked the probation officer, Julia Flack, 49, an archdeacon’s wife, on Monday as she held a surgery in the prison. It covers the new “white list” of countries from which asylum seekers will not be accepted. Measures to force employers to check workers’ immigration status and fines for those companies found to be employing illegal immigrants are not covered in the briefing, although the issue is still the subject of Cabinet discussion and has aroused serious concern among employers.It also details the social security cuts outlined by Peter Lilley, the Secretary of State for Social Security, and the immigration checks to be carried out by head teachers, hospitals and other public sector bodies.A recent consultants’ report by KPMG Peat Marwick for the Home Office recommended the publication of a “white list” of countries regarded as safe. The proposal led to a heated Cabinet debate but Mr Howard appears to have prevailed.Underlying the briefing is the assumption that the government will treat Nigeria, Algeria and Sri Lanka as countries unlikely to be the source of genuine asylum seekers.The paper, prepared at Conservative Central Office, details the proposed package of immigration controls and outlines a blow-by-blow defence against allegations that it is racist and that it contravenes United Nations guidelines.Set out in the form of a set of expected questions and ideal answers, the four-page guide also outlines the proposed changes.

DONALD MACINTYRE and PETER VICTOR

Tory MPs are being prepared for what ministers recognise will be a wholesale assault on their latest plans to crack down on illegal immigrants on the grounds that they are racist and in breach of international guidelines.
A briefing note sent to Tory MPs spells out a series of arguments that should be used to justify the controversial proposal of Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, to assume powers against employers who hire illegal immigrants. The social security minister Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish introduced amendments to the Disability Discrimination Bill making clear that people at a “progressive stage” of the HIV virus, leading to Aids, would receive the same protection as disabled people.. . One up, three down
A man fell through three floors when his terrace house in Huddersfield collapsed as builders worked on it But George Gayle walked away with just bruising. Help for HIV victims

Discrimination against HIV victims is to be made illegal, the Government said as its measures to advance disabled people’s rights cleared the Lords.