Hansard

As convener of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, it is my job to share with members the main points that arose during my committee’s scrutiny of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. Our locus was primarily the processes that support burial as an option for the future, and some discrete areas relating to cremation, including the siting of crematoria. We also considered the proposals on inspection and licensing of the funeral industry. An additional area of focus for us, although it is not directly addressed by the bill’s provisions, was funeral costs, which are sometimes referred to as funeral poverty.

Before I cover our deliberations in more detail, I record the committee’s support for the general principles of the bill. There is no doubt that the bill is required in order to modernise the archaic legislative framework.

To assist us with our scrutiny we sought the views of people who work in the funeral industry, and we heard from a diverse stakeholder group, including the Muslim Council for Scotland, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Citizens Advice Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service. We received a total of 33 responses to our call for evidence and we thank all those who shared their views with us. Interestingly, there were no responses on the generality of the bill and its impact on them. We found that surprising, given the bill’s potential to impact on everyone. As the oft-quoted Benjamin Franklin said,

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

Why the lack of engagement? We believe that it was due to the lack of detail in the bill. How can members of the public or stakeholders be expected to comment on the policy if they cannot comprehend how it will work in practice? We have requested more detail on three key areas: the management of burial grounds scheme, the independent inspection regime and the proposed licensing scheme.

The bill’s principal aim is to modernise the legislative framework. As we have heard, the existing legislation that we have to deal with and update is quite old. We have an industry that is steeped in tradition, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, funeral businesses, just like other businesses, have to operate and compete in the modern digital world. Electronic record keeping is no longer a nicety—it is a necessity. Disappointingly, the bill has fallen short of requiring electronic record keeping, so we recommend that that be remedied.

The bill largely preserves the existing approach—albeit with some modifications to bring the legislation into the 21st century. We believe that the bill could fundamentally change how the funeral industry operates, and by doing so send a clear signal on service standards and costs. As we have heard, the bill is a response to poor historic practices in the funeral industry.

Although we welcome the introduction of the inspection regime, we consider that the package of measures in the bill can be strengthened through swift introduction of licensing. Licensing will ensure that certain standards have to be met, and it will mean that we do not have to rely on existing voluntary schemes and codes of practice that have no effective sanctions for non-compliant businesses.

Licensing also has the potential to address rising funeral costs. Funeral industry figures reveal healthy profits and a sector that is continuing to grow. The figures for one company, Dignity plc, show that, for crematoria, underlying profit as a percentage of revenue was 53 per cent in 2014. Revenue from funeral services was £184 million and underlying profit was 36 per cent. Meanwhile, Fraser Sutherland of Citizens Advice Scotland told us that in 2014-15 it had a 35 per cent increase in the number of clients who were concerned about funeral issues and affordability, with the average cost of a funeral now being £3,550.

The cost of funerals can vary from street to street in a single town. We consider that a licensing scheme has the potential to require the funeral directors to display tariffs. That, we believe, would make it easier for people to make an informed choice at what is an extremely emotional time for a bereaved family.

Costs across local authorities vary widely, too. The Western Isles Council charges £694 for purchase of a lair and internment, whereas East Dunbartonshire Council charges £2,785. We found that the reasons for that are varied and complex, but cross-subsidy of other services could be a factor. We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to requiring local authorities to publish their costs online, as some do currently. We also thank the Scottish Government for providing the committee with an update on its review of funeral costs and its development of a successor benefit to the Department for Work and Pensions funeral payment.

In the short time that I have left, I will touch briefly on sustainability of burial grounds. Reuse of lairs is essential if burial is to continue as an option in the future. It will be for burial authorities to make best use of the new powers. We welcome the ending of the sale of lairs in perpetuity and consider the introduction of a new limit of 25 years in the first instance as appropriate.

In conclusion, we support the general principles of the bill and look forward to the Scottish Government addressing the technical points that we have raised.