Annual Report
Year Ended 31st March 2005

The Cremation Society of Great Britain

Report of the Council

The members of the Council, who are the trustees of the charity and are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, submit their annual report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2005. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" issued in October 2000 in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity, the group accounts incorporating the consolidated figures for its subsidiary company, the London Cremation Company plc and the associated charity, Golders Green Foundation.

Contents

Objects of the Charity

The Society was founded in 1874 by Sir Henry Thompson, Bart, to promote and establish the practice of cremation for the disposal of bodies of dead persons and to join with local authorities or other bodies or persons for this purpose.

To achieve these objectives the charity:

  • encourages the highest operational and ethical standards in cremation practice through the establishment, ownership, management of or investment in crematoria.
  • holds regular cremation conferences, organises meetings and lectures and fosters research.
  • collates and disseminates information on cremation related topics.
  • liaises and co-operates with other organisations, government departments and individuals, both nationally and internationally, on cremation matters.
  • publishes a quarterely magazine Pharos International.
  • publishes directories of crematoria.


Memorandum and Articles of Association

At the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society held on 14 October 2004 a Special Resolution was passed unanimously by members to adopt a new Memorandum and Articles of Association. These are necessary to accommodate changes in charity law as well as reflecting more accurately the objectives of the Society. They will also facilitate more easily the Society's present and anticipated future work in this connection.

The Council has commenced a review of the Society's activities in order to formulate a strategy policy for the future with the emphasis on the promotion of cremation and the recruitment of Associate Members.


Organisational Structure

The Council is elected by the members of the Society. It currently has eight members and meets six times a year. The day to day operations of the charity are managed by the Secretary and his staff to whom the Council offers warm thanks for their work and dedication.


Related Parties

The charity has one subsidiary company, The London Cremation Company plc, a company registered in England, which owns and operates crematoria at Golders Green, Woking St John's, St Marylebone, Banbury and the Garden of England Crematorium in North East Kent.

The charity has a close relationship with the Golders Green Foundation, which is a registered charity. It has the power to appoint the Trustees of the Golders Green Foundation.


Statement of Council Members' Responsibilities

Company law requires us as Council members to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society and the group and of the net income or expense of the Society and the group for that period. In preparing those financial statements we are required to:

  • select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
  • make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
  • state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
  • prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Society will continue in business.

We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Society and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. We are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.


Review of Activities and Future Development

The Group results for the year are shown in the consolidated summary income and expenditure account and the consolidated statement of financial activities. The net deficit of the group for the year on unrestricted general funds was £221,862 as compared to net income of £14,148 as restated for the previous year.

The year continued to be characterised by the continued role of the government in death care matters with an increasing emphasis on environmental issues. Many of these have involved input from the Society and are referred to in this report.


The London Cremation Company plc

During the year under review the Company's profit before taxation amounted to £32,100. In the previous year profits before taxation amounted to £10,894.

The Company carried out 5,522 cremations during the year an increase of 97.


The London Cremation Company plc - Delisting

On 29 September 2004 the Society's subsidiary, the London Cremation Company plc, obtained a delisting of its Preference Shares on the London Stock Exchange.

In considering the benefits to the London Cremation Company, its ordinary and preference shareholders of maintaining a listing of its Preference Shares, the Board of the Company considered the following principal issues:

  • the lack of trade experienced in the Preference Shares;
  • the fact that less than 25% of the Preference Shares are in public hands, as defined by the UK Listing Authority;
  • the fact that many of the dealings in Preference Shares have taken place outside of the London Stock Exchange's market for small listed securities;
  • the Board's belief that there was very little potential in the foreseeable future to raise further capital on the London Stock Exchange, particularly for a company with a relatively low market capitalisation;
  • the direct and indirect costs of maintaining a Listing.

Having considered the matter at length the Council of the Society fully supported the Board of the Company in its actions.

As a result of delisting the Company increased the coupon on the Preference Shares from 10% to 10.5% with effect from 1 October. This was facilitated by shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 23 September 2004.

Following delisting the Company's Preference Shares are no longer listed or dealt with on any stock exchange. The Board recognised the importance of the availability of a method for Preference Shareholders to trade their Preference Shares and the Company will therefore continue to assist in the sale and purchase of these shares by putting interested parties in touch with each other.


Golders Green Foundation

The net incoming resources for the year amount to £3,137. A donation amounting to £2,000 was made to Wolverhampton University during the year for a book written by Professor Hilary Grainger entitledDeath Redesigned: British Crematoria: History, Architecture and Landscape. The book will carry a foreword by the Society's Chairman.


Abolition of the Recovery of Tax Credits on Dividend Income

Following the abolition of the payment of advance corporation tax by companies paying dividends in the 1997 Budget, The Society, in common with other charities, is unable to reclaim the associated tax credits on dividends receivable after 5 April 1999 from the Inland Revenue. However, charities were, under transitional rules, receiving compensation for the loss of these tax credits for a five year period reducing on a sliding scale. The compensation period now having expired the Society no longer receives compensation for the loss of tax credits during the year under review. By April 2004 the Society's total UK dividend income had reduced significantly, to that of the 1998/99 level.


Archives

The Society's archives stored at the University of Durham's Palace Green Library (Special Collections Section) continue to be available to the public and research academics. The Society's archives at Durham can be accessed via the internet at www.cremation.org.uk/LegalEtc/Archives.html.


Website

The Society's website at www.cremation.org.uk continues to provide free access to a rich source of material on all aspects of cremation in the United Kingdom. It is regularly visited by the public, academics and those involved in the death care profession.

As a reference source on cremation legislation it is particularly helpful for those involved in the various inquiries and reviews involving the cremation movement, death and bereavement services.

The Society's website was the first for any cremation organisation in the United Kingdom when it was introduced in 1999. It is now due for a major revision and it is intended that this task will commence during 2005/06.


Directory of Crematoria

Despite continuing competition from other directories demand for the Society's Directory of Crematoria remains buoyant and it continues to provide a material net income for the Society which was marginally up on the previous year.

The popularity of the publication is due to its user-friendliness and the accuracy of information which is maintained by the use of annual questionnaires to cremation authorities to whom we offer our thanks for their kind assistance. The Society continues to take every opportunity to widen the Directory's content to include information that will be of practical use to its subscribers.

Access to the content of the Directory via public libraries continues through a licensing agreement with ProQuest under their KnowUK website agreement.

Despite its success the Directory will continue to face increasing competition from the producers of similar information in alternative formats.


Annual Conference

The new format introduced for the first time in 2004, which proved so successful, whereby the whole of the second day of the conference was devoted to a seminar on a single topic, was retained for the Society's 2005 Conference. These papers were reproduced in the Society's publication "What is Respectful Disposal?", ISBN 1 899466 11 8.

This time the topic was "Why not cremation?" The aim was for the Society to inform itself of the reasons that people do not currently opt for cremation. Participants in the seminar consisted of speakers from religious, social and political groups for whom cremation is not the first choice or not a choice at all, as well as a philosopher, psychotherapist, social and cultural historian, theologian and forensic pathologist. They explained and examined the reasons that restrain people from choosing cremation.

The seminar left delegates better equipped to judge whether the constant rise in the cremation rate over the past century or so has indeed reached a plateau, or whether an increase or decrease can be expected. It left the Society better information on how to respond to factors affecting the current cremation rate. Speakers and their presentations comprised as follows: Josefine Speyer An Argument for Environmentally Friendly, Natural Burial; Professor Douglas Davies The Changing Social Values and the Potential Repositioning of Cremation in Society; Dr Piers Benn Cremation as Violence; Dr Stephen Leadbeatter Cremation - Covering up Crime - Fact or Fiction?; Mr Frank Gent Out of the Ashes; Professor Emeritus Peter Loizos Why Greek Orthodox people do not like their dead cremated; Monsignor Kevin McGinnell Why Catholics Prefer Burial.

The other two days of the conference addressed environmental matters with papers on From Grit to Mercury: 50 Years of Crematoria Abatement and the Role of CAMEO by Brendan Day; Cremator Emissions Removal Device by Tom Marshall; Heat Recovery from Cremation by Paul Dijkstra;Promession by Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak. Cultural, social and architectural matters were addressed in papers on Where we are with Secular Funerals by John Pearce; The Freedom of Information Act by Terence Thompson; Death Redesigned: The Architecture of British Crematoria by Hilary Grainger. As usual the conference concluded with a lively debate during the popular Presidents' Panel comprising of Presidents from the British Institute of Funeral Directors, Federation of British Cremation Authorities, Institute of Cemetery & Crematorium Management, National Association of Funeral Directors, and National Association of Memorial Masons. The seminar and conference were a great success and exceeded all expectations with the best conference attendance experienced for some time.


Pharos International

First published in 1934 Pharos International continues to maintain its position as the leading cremation publication in Great Britain's cremation movement and one of the leading cremation publications world-wide, with copies presently circulating in 41 countries. Edited by R N Arber, Pharos continues to be the principal publication of the International Cremation Federation. The success of the production changes referred to in last year's report continues and provides the Society with a high profile and invaluable communication aid. Financially the publication now provides a modest income, a significant achievement bearing in mind it is the only major subscription magazine in the cremation movement.


Publications

During the year the Society collaborated with the editor and authors of two major works which involved the use of the Society's archives.

Firstly, the Encyclopaedia of Cremation edited by Professor Douglas J Davies, University of Durham is the first major reference resource, consisting of some 400 pages, focused on cremation. A major international reference work, it is also an essential source book for students on the growing number of death-studies, courses and wider studies in religion, anthropology or sociology.

Death Redesigned: British Crematoria: History, Architecture and Landscape by Professor Hilary Grainger, consisting of approximately 500 pages and 300 illustrations.

Crematoria in Great Britain have to suit both the practical and emotional needs of the religious and non-religious, Christians, and those of other faiths. The book examines the special historical, social and cultural conditions that lie behind them. An illustrated gazetteer provides comprehensive information about each crematorium.

Both the above are due for publication towards the end of 2005.

The Society also assisted the author, Mr Brian Parsons, with the publication Committed to the Cleansing Flame: The Development of Cremation in 19th Century England, which carried a foreword by the Society's President. The book is a full length study of how cremation developed into an acceptable and dignified way to dispose of the dead. It tells of the arrangements for early cremations and the progress of the movement down to the passing of the first Cremation Act in 1902 when London finally received its first crematorium at Golders Green. It is extensively illustrated including many rarely seen images.

From Dust to Ashes: Cremation and the British Way of Death has been written by Revd. Dr. P C Jupp, Chairman of the Cremation Society and is published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book tells the story of cremation in Britain from 1820 until 2000. It investigates why cremation replaced burial, examining the political, religious, economic and social reasons behind this major change in British funeral practices.


Human Tissue Authority

The Human Tissue Bill, mentioned in the Council's last Annual Report, was passed on 15 November 2004. It provides for the establishment of a Human Tissue Authority, which will be required to make Codes of Practice to regulate dealings with materials taken from both living and dead human bodies, including their disposal. The Act itself nowhere refers to "respectful disposal" but on three occasions does refer to "decent" disposal, which the Act makes clear can include disposal as "waste". None of the significant provisions of the Act were brought into force until 1 April 2005.

The first significant provisions of the Act to be brought into force were those relating to the constitution and functions of the Authority. These came into force on 1 April 2005. In July 2005 the Authority produced six Draft Codes, the last of which relates to the "Removal/collection, retention and disposal of human organs and tissue".

The Human Tissue Authority has invited comments on its Draft Codes and the Council will be responding to the invitation.


The Shipman Inquiry and Review of Coroner Services

The Shipman Inquiry had criticised the performance of medical referees and doctors completing Cremation Form C. In November 2003 the Home Office issued advice on the appointment of medical referees and advice to medical referees themselves. In the latter the Home Office advised that normally the doctor completing form C should have made a careful external examination of the body and spoken face to face with the doctor who completed Form B and that, in addition, he or she should normally have spoken face to face with at least one of the following: another doctor who had attended the deceased, anyone who had nursed the deceased during his or her last illness and was present at the death, a relative of the deceased, or any other person. The Council has welcomed both pieces of advice.

Both the Shipman Inquiry and the Review of Coroners Services recommended that there should be a unified Coroner service, fully incorporated into the Court System. The Government took the first step towards this on 23 May 2005, when responsibility for the Coroner System was transferred from the Home Office to the Department of Constitutional Affairs. Responsibility for Burial and Cremation was also being similarly transferred at the same time.


Burial Law and Policy in the 21st Century

Following the 2004 consultation document Burial Law and Policy in the 21st Century: the need for a sensitive and sustainable approach, the Home Office's Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group has continued its work but progress seems slow, especially in the two areas of memorial safety and the review of old graves.

As the Cremation Society since its origin has promoted cremation as a better alternative to burial, it has not commented on the re-use issue, although it continues to respect bereaved families' freedom of choice.


VAT: Review of Burials and Cremation Guidance

As part of a review process H M Customs & Excise (now H M Revenue & Customs) issued a consultation document in August 2004 on VAT Notice 701-32 (Burials and Cremation Guidance). As a consultee the Society took the opportunity of accepting an invitation to submit comments and observations that it felt appropriate. A draft version of the new notice is expected towards the end of 2005.


Reclamation of Implants

In the Spring of 2005 a Recycling of Metals pilot scheme, operated by the Institute of Cemetery & Crematorium Management, commenced with some 36 crematoria participating. The Society's position is that provided it is for charitable purposes only it supports the principle of recycling and believes that the option should be available to all cremation authorities provided it is practised with the knowledge and approval of the bereaved families and without causing them any distress. The Society will be keeping a watching brief on the Scheme during its initial stages of operation.


International

Via the Secretary's position as a Vice-President on the Executive Committee, the Society continues its strong links with the International Cremation Federation and hopes to have a material input into the establishment of the proposed Regional Structures.

The Society continues its strong links with the international cremation movement via its membership of the ICF and through its Secretary's role on the Executive Committee which is presently focusing on the introduction of a regional structure for the Federation. The Federation has grown significantly over the years into a truly world-wide organisation and it is felt that the time has now come to introduce regional structures in order that it can best represent the interests of its members world-wide.

In August 2005 a joint CANA Convention and ICF General Council Meeting was held in New York and was attended in total by some 500 delegates. The Society was represented by its Secretary who presented the Country Report for Great Britain during the main sessions of the Convention.

The Society continues its strong links with the international cremation movement via its membership of the ICF and through its Secretary's role on the Executive Committee which is presently focusing on the introduction of a regional structure for the Federation. The Federation has grown significantly over the years into a truly world-wide organisation and it is felt that the time has now come to introduce regional structures in order that it can best represent the interests of its members world-wide.


European Funeral Standard

As the United Kingdom representative on the UK National Committee of the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) which was formed in response to an initiative from the German Institute for Standardisation to prepare a European Funeral Standard, the Society has expressed a number of concerns with regard to the drafting of the final version of the Standard. Concerns related mainly to the fact that the Standard mixed definition with prescription, as well as appearing not to have been drafted by legal professionals. Committee procedures and timetables permitting it was hoped that members of the CEN would take notice and address, as appropriate, the points raised by the Society with regard to the proposed final text of the Standard.

The International Cremation Federation's Code of Ethics that had been drafted and adopted during the Secretary of the Society's term of office as Secretary-General of the ICF, is to be incorporated as an appendix to the European Funeral Standard.


Cremation in the Republic of Ireland

During the year the Society provided a crematorium developer with information to aid them with a planning application to establish a crematorium at Mocklerstown, Ballyclerihan, Clonmel, County Tipperary. Although original planning consent had been refused the developer concerned had been able to secure a public appeal hearing by the An Bord Pleanala and on 8 November Mr R N Arber had attended a public appeal hearing in his capacity as Secretary of the Society and former Secretary-General and current Senior Vice-President of the International Cremation Federation. During the appeal hearing there had been constant reference by opposers to the scheme to terms such as "commercial and industrial use and/or activity". The opportunity was taken to stress to the Inspector at the hearing that under UK planning legislation crematoria were not categorised as an industrial use. With regard to an industrial process, it was also emphasised that neither the UK nor International Cremation Federation member countries regarded crematoria as carrying out an industrial process.

The planning application to build the crematorium at Mocklerstown was subsequently refused. The main reasons given were the fact that the operation of a crematorium was considered to be commercial use in a rural area and on traffic grounds.

Whilst disappointed by the decision the developer felt that they had come very close to obtaining a consent and were therefore seeking to obtain a planning application on another site in Southern Ireland which would satisfactorily address the points on which the Mocklerstown refusal had been based. The developer had expressed their thanks to the Society for the valuable assistance that it had provided.


Environment

Following completion of its consultation exercise which included extensive input from the Society, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a final version of the Process Guidance Note 5/2(04) "Control of Mercury Emissions from Crematoria" together with supplemental guidance. There is now a requirement for the cremation movement to achieve a 50% reduction in mercury emission levels and new regulations require that 50% of all existing cremations are to be subject to mercury abatement by no later than 31 December 2012.

DEFRA accepts that burden sharing is a flexible way of achieving these reductions, providing satisfactory evidence is supplied by 31 December 2005 that such an approach will successfully deliver the 50% objective. The Federation of British Cremation Authorities, which represents 94% of UK cremation authorities, has proposed such a scheme that will be operated by the Cremation Abatement ofMercury Emissions Organisation (CAMEO). This scheme has been developed with the full support of the Society and has been recognised by DEFRA as a suitable burden sharing arrangement. Burden sharing is a practical method of allowing those crematoria that would otherwise have to close due to heritage and space restrictions to continue operating. As a result all cremation authorities must inform their local regulator by 31 December 2005 whether or not they will be installing abatement equipment or participating in a burden sharing scheme. Where abatement plant is to be installed it is important that it is carried out in a phased manner so as to avoid the difficulties experienced by the cremation movement previously when cremation authorities tended to wait until the deadline set, by which time demand outstripped supply.


Funeral Practices in the Environment

Between November 2004 and February 2005 the Environment Agency carried out a public consultation on Funeral Practices and the Environment. The Agency's intention is to draft a policy designed to prevent any harm to the environment as a result of the spreading of ashes on water and home burials. As a consultee the Society responded to the original draft proposals. The final version of the Environment Agency's policy is expected towards the latter part of 2005.


Forest Park Cemetery & Crematorium (Redbridge)

The Society's Chairman was invited to attend and represent the Society at the Service of Dedication of Forest Park Cemetery & Crematorium in Essex which was held on 1 February 2005. Forest Park is Great Britain's 248th crematorium.


Joint Life Member Certificates

There is a provision in the accounts for the Society's future liability under founder member certificates and this is reassessed annually. After reviewing the number of claims and amount per claim it has been decided to retain the existing provision.


Computerisation

The updating and transfer of old but necessary data retained in manual format, continues to be carried out by the Society's staff. Planned enhancements to the Society's computer system are in the course of completion and include the provision of Broadband facilities. When completed the upgraded facility will improve efficiency and the already high standard of service presently provided.


Investment Portfolio

The investment objective is to produce the optimum total return from income and capital over the long term.

Following the review of fund managers and the decision to retain the services of Newton Investment Management Ltd, the Society's portfolio was transferred to the Newton Global Growth and Income Fund. Performance has proved satisfactory and the planned savings in management charges achieved.


Brecon House

The appointment of professional property managers has proved a prudent move in the light of the increasing onerous responsibilities placed on landlords as a result of emerging legislation, particularly with regard to health and safety issues. Various risk assessments have been completed and recommendations will be implemented as appropriate.

Redecoration of the common parts took place during the year under review and the Society continues to ensure that the property is maintained in good order as it represents a significant investment for the Society.

The Society's office continues to provide free of charge a fully staffed, independent permanent office providing a service from 9a.m. to 5p.m., five days a week, to deal with enquiries from the public and existing or prospective cremation authorities. Its staff and up to date administration system ensures that it continues to provide an efficient, first class service.


Future Development

The Society will continue to consolidate its existing relationships with allied organisations as well as participating in discussions on cremation related topics on which it can speak with authority. It will co-operate with kindred organisations when the cause of cremation is being promoted and will at all times, through its interests in cremation companies, promote the practice of cremation to the highest standard with the public's interest uppermost.

It will continue to consolidate relationships already established with government departments and organisations such as the Association of Crematorium Medical Referees, Home Office, Office for National Statistics, Department of Trade and Industry, Office of Fair Trading, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, Review of Coroner Services, Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group, British Standards Institute Committee FSW/1 (European Funeral Standard), and the successor body to the Retained Organs Commission. It will cultivate relationships with other government departments as appropriate and will continue to contribute to any Inquiries or Reviews that may be relevant to the cremation profession.

As a priority the Society will continue to play an active role in international affairs through its representation on the Executive Committee and Sub-Committees of the International Cremation Federation, particularly with regard to the formation of new regional structures.


Trustee Training

In order to keep abreast of legislative developments as well as ensuring that the Council is fulfilling its statutory duties and responsibilities, the Secretary and a number of Council Members attended appropriate trustee training courses during the year operated by Messrs Farrer & Co and Newton Investment Management Ltd.


The Charities Bill

The long awaited Charities Bill was lost due to the dissolution of Parliament when the General Election was called in April 2004. In the Queen's Speech on 17 May 2005 it was announced that it was the Government's intention to reintroduce the Charities Bill.

The new Bill will inevitably affect the Society and the Society's Council is therefore keeping a watching brief on its progress to ensure that the Society complies, as appropriate, with any new charity legislation.


Reserves Policy

The Council has reviewed the reserves of the Society. This review encompassed the nature of the major income and expenditure streams, the need to match income and expenditure and the nature of the Society's reserves. The Society's principal sources of funds are the income from the investment portfolio and the resources generated by activities in furtherance of the charity's objects. The Council also considered the nature of the Society's assets, which include the investment portfolio, investment property, the investment in its subsidiary company and the assets used directly for charitable purposes.

Resulting from this review, the Council has come to the conclusion that reserves representing the investment in its subsidiary and associated companies should be considered separately. These companies meet the objective of investing in crematoria which encourage the highest operational and ethical standards in cremation practice.

The Council consider the balance of the reserves is sufficient to generate the income required to meet other objectives of the Society and to operate efficiently.

The Council believes that its present reserves are at about the right level to meet its objectives.


Risk Management

The Council regularly reviews the major risks which the Society may be exposed to with regard to its practical operations. The Council has commenced a comprehensive risk assessment exercise. This will be completed and the necessary action implemented during the coming year.

With regard to risks relating to the finances of the Society the Council is satisfied that maintaining an unrestricted general reserve at the level stated above will provide sufficient resources for the foreseeable future.


Market Value of Subsidiary's Freehold and Leasehold Land and Buildings

In the opinion of the Directors of the London Cremation Company, the market value of the freehold and leasehold land and buildings of the subsidiary is considerably in excess of the net book value of £3,480,989. In the absence of a professional valuation of all the properties the Society's Council is unable to quantify that excess.


Brecon House Valuation

Having taken professional advice the Council considered it prudent to revalue the property at £775,000 (2004: £950,000). The Council believes this to be a fair market value at 31 March 2005 in the light of existing open market rents and the remaining term of existing tenants' leases.


Officers and Council

The Directors of the Society (who are honorary and known as Members of the Council) who served during the financial year, were as follows:-

The Right Honourable The Earl Grey
Revd. Dr. P.C. Jupp
R.G. Roberts (Honorary Treasurer) (retired 22nd April 2004)
H. Thomas C.B.E.
S.R.G. White
Professor G.F. Woodroffe
Ms. C. Lambert (Resigned 10th August 2005)
Dr. S. Leadbeatter
A. D. McCarthy
Mrs J Stevenson

The Society is grateful to Ms Carole Lambert who joined the Council in 1999. The Council is particularly appreciative of her contribution to its work from her experience as a bereavement counsellor and as Administrator of the National Association of Bereavement Services.

The Society's Council comprises highly qualified members prominent in their individual fields of expertise. Nevertheless the Council will continue to increase its expertise and widen its influence wherever possible.

The undermentioned members of the Council were also Directors of the Society's subsidiary, The London Cremation Company plc., from which they received total emoluments of £59,300 during the year ended 31 March 2005 (2004: £58,000).

The Right Honourable The Earl Grey
Revd. Dr. P.C. Jupp
H. Thomas C.B.E.

The interest of members of the Council, including family interests, in the shares of the subsidiary at the beginning and end of the year, were as follows:

  Ordinary Shares Preference Shares
  31/3/05 1/4/04 31/3/05 1/4/04
The Right Honourable The Earl Grey     100 100
R.G. Roberts     250 250
H. Thomas C.B.E. 1,182 1,182 1,000 1,000
Revd. Dr. P.C. Jupp     100 100
Non-Beneficial Trustee Interests:        
The Right Honourable The Earl Grey 220,000 220,000    

The Right Honourable The Earl Grey is a Trustee of the Golders Green Foundation.


Auditors

A resolution will be submitted to the forthcoming Annual General Meeting that Messrs. Larkings, Chartered Accountants, be re-appointed Auditors of The Society.

BY ORDER OF THE COUNCIL

Date: 11 August 2005
R.N. Arber, Secretary