Douglas Council believes a £7,000 investment into the sound system at the Borough Crematorium on Glencrutchery Road will provide ‘considerate and quality’ funeral services.

The local authority says it is currently using multiple platforms to source and play music, a process which it describes as ‘inefficient’ and has an ‘increased risk’ of technical difficulties.

Chair of the regeneration and community committee, Natalie Byron-Teare, hopes the new system will ‘streamline’ services and save on council resources.

‘The system itself needed updating, and we decided to look to see whether we could streamline the use of the system,’ she commented.

‘At the moment, we use several different music streaming services, and we also use a light switch system to identify when things should be played. We looked at it holistically to see how we could best support the bereavement services team in providing quality and considerate funeral services.’

Asked how important it is that the site and services be improved, Mrs Byron-Teare said: ‘I think it's in everybody's best interest as this is a service to see the end of somebody's life - whether that's a family member or a loved one, you're there to remember them.

‘The last thing anybody would want is for there to be a technical difficulty which disrupts the service.’

The £7,000 being spent on the system will integrate the Crematorium’s existing equipment. During the tender process, a whole new system was quoted at the price of £30,000.

‘I don't think [the price] needs any justification,’ Mrs Byron-Teare added.

‘I think maybe the way it was reported has given the wrong impression - this was an essential update that was needed.

‘It really was the best value for money, and I think the streamlining of the processes will have benefits way beyond just the operations.’

EMMA DRAPER - LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER