Consultation on Draft Statutory Guidance on Funeral Costs

Overview

This consultation seeks views on draft statutory guidance on funeral costs, which the Scottish Government will publish under Section 98 of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016. The draft guidance sets out steps that burial authorities (cemeteries), cremation authorities (crematoriums) and funeral directors can take to improve transparency and availability of funeral pricing information. There are public and private providers operating in this market. For this reason, the guidance also includes a section specifically for local authorities on charge setting and tackling funeral poverty, recognising that councils operate many cemeteries and crematoriums.

The overall aim of the draft guidance is to support transparency in the funeral market to help consumers understand, compare and choose the services that are right for them.

Why your views matter

Before issuing the guidance, Scottish Ministers must consult burial authorities, cremation authorities, funeral directors and any other persons they consider appropriate. The purpose of the consultation is to seek views on the draft guidance. The consultation is open to everyone, and in particular we would welcome the views of local authorities, burial and cremation authorities and funeral directors, for whom the draft guidance has been written, as well as seeking views from members of the public. Responses to the consultation will be used to inform the final version of the guidance. In addition to asking questions about the draft guidance, we are also asking for views on the potential impacts of the draft guidance on different groups and also on businesses.

Download the consultation paper.

What happens next

We intend to analyse the results of the consultation and produce a report on our findings.

Responses to the consultation will be used to inform the final version of the guidance, which we will lay before Parliament in December 2018.