As a Minister, I do not, by convention, sign any Early Day Motions (EDMs), as doing so is likely to breach the Ministerial Code's rules on collective responsibility. However, I agree that this is an incredibly important issue, and as you say, the death of a child is always a tragedy for which families cannot plan.
I understand that a number of local authorities already choose to waive fees for children's funerals. I hope all local authorities would carefully consider their policy in this area. As democratically elected organisations, however, they are independent of central Government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities.
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