Uproar after we revealed plans to slash crematorium service times without changing the £710 price has led to a council u-turn.

Currently it charges £710 for a 50-minute service and £482.50 for a 20-minute slot at the crematorium in Robin Hood Lane, Blue Bell Hill. Both include 10 minutes of preparation time.

It had announced that from March 1, all services would run for a maximum of 30 minutes plus 10 minutes prep, but the charge would remain at the higher price of £710.

The move faced a backlash from angry residents, and an undertaker in the Towns spoke out against the changes earlier this week.

Yesterday, the Towns' MPs called for the council to reconsider the decision.

This morning, it announced that from March 1, services times will be temporarily reduced to 40 minutes - a 30 minute service and 10 minutes for staff to prepare for the next service which includes sanitising - but the price will be £482.50.

Two early morning slots at 8.20am and 8.40am are also available at a reduced price of £352.

Although the majority of services will be the shorter duration, the council will continue to offer a small number of hour-long slots each day at the current price of £710. That includes a 50-minute service and 10 minutes preparation for the next service.

A statement said that last year, as part of Medway Council’s response to the initial wave of the pandemic, the council launched an emergency measure to provide shorter services at a reduced rate at Medway Crematorium to be able to conduct more services each day. The change was made so families would not have to wait so long to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Like local authorities across the country, Medway is currently seeing a significant increase in demand for cremation services. To help it meet that demand, it had now taken the decision to temporarily implement this approach for most of its services from March 1 and would continue to charge the reduced price for the shorter service, making Medway’s crematorium services one of the cheapest in Kent.

These new arrangements will still allow families the opportunity to say farewell to their loved ones, as well as ensuring that the chapels can be cleaned ready for the following funeral service.

These arrangements will remain in place until April 1 when the council will review the situation and revert to hour-long services at the usual rate as soon as possible.

Commenting on the changes to the arrangements, Cllr Rupert Turpin, portfolio holder for business management, covering bereavement services, said: “For many years Medway Crematorium has provided bereaved families and their loved ones with a sensitive and moving opportunity to say farewell and we will ensure that this continues despite the current challenges of Covid-19.

"Our priority is to keep people safe and at the same time enable them to the treasure those precious final moments. These changes are a temporary measure to help alleviate the situation. As we turn the corner on the pandemic we will return to our normal services as soon as possible.”

Medway's opposition Labour group welcomed the u-turn but called on Cllr Turpin "to apologise for this insensitive proposal".

Labour councillors Andy Stamp and Vince Maple had written to the portfolio holder asking him to reconsider, and an online petition received more than 2,000 signatures in less than 48 hours.

Cllr Stamp, Medway Labour and Co-operative Group spokesman for regeneration and communities, said: "I’m really pleased to see this u-turn and to hear that the council have come to their senses. Capitalising on the pandemic and loss of life in Medway is appalling, and it’s shameful that this is something we even needed to highlight as an issue.

"I hope to see Cllr Turpin, the portfolio holder responsible for the Crematorium Services, apologise for the insensitivity of these proposals and the upset caused to families in Medway."

Medway Labour group leader Cllr Vince Maple added: "Footing grieving families with a 48% increase in crematorium services in the middle of a pandemic is abhorrent, and quite frankly it is shocking this is something we even needed to start a petition on. I would pay tribute to the whistleblowing funeral director.

"I welcome the council coming to their senses on this matter, but our community deserve an apology from the council leader and the portfolio holder responsible for this insensitivity."

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