funeral costs

A client lost his wife earlier this year. He was her f/t carer and was receiving Carer Allowace and Inc Supp. It was his wife’s desire to be buried in her native Pakistan. My client arranged a religious ceremony in UK which cost £900 and had her body flown to Pak for burial. He applied to SF but was refused. The reason given was he was not on a qualifying benefit.
I challenged the decision by asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration and asked for the written statement of reasons for the decision but the JC + have completely dismissed my letter. The have offered an oral explaination today but only after I called chasing the MA decision. I have been told they only pay for the burial part and as this was outside UK they will not pay for the religious ceremony that took place here in UK.
I haven’t got the full rules for funeral payments but understand from CPAG book that upto £700 can be allowed for ‘other costs’.
Can anyone offer any help as to where I might get more concise information regarding the rules for entitlement for a funeral payment.

Thanks in advance

The Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regs 2005 (SI 2005/3061) are quite clear. Reg 3 defines a “funeral” as a burial or cremation. Reg 7 para 6 states that the funeral must take place in the UK (with some exceptions for EEA nationals). A religious ceremony alone won’t meet this core condition. There have been a few attempts to argue this is discriminatory, but they’ve all failed. Regrettably, the DWP is correct to refuse this claim.

Thanks for your quick response.