Price of dying to increase

Paying more for funerals

Grieving families in Perth and Kinross face having to pay even higher bills to bury or cremate their loved ones as of next month.

Elected members finally approved increasing fees for burials, cremations and memorials in the council budget.

Officers had recommended increasing the cost in the two previous budgets only to see councillors knock back those plans.

With no dissent expressed during budget discussions the fees are now set to go up as of April 1.

It means the cost of adult burials in Perth and Kinross, which according to Citizens Advice Scotland last year was already the sixth most expensive local authority area in Scotland, will rise by £26 to have to pay to bury or cremate lost family members or friends.

The cost of some lairs will increase by as much as £25, adult cremation costs will go up by £19 and the cost to have cremated remains buried will increase by £6 too. Even the current charge to have ashes scattered in the grounds at Perth Crematorium will go up by £1.

Under the latest cost revisions the council will charge families or individuals £881 for a full lair, £440 for a half lair and £220 for a quarter lair. At the moment it charges £855 for a full lair, £427 for a half lair and £214 for a quarter lair.

The cost to actually bury an adult will increase from £891 to £918, with the cost of burying a child rising from £134 to £138. The cost of cremating an adult will go up from £649 to £668, while the cost of cremating a child aged two to 15 years will rise from £144 to £148. The cost to bury caskets containing cremated remains will also increase from £206 to £212.

Leasing memorials at the crematorium will be more expensive as well, with a 20year lease of a granite plaque in the Garden of Remembrance costing £510 rather than £495 and a 10-year lease costing £294 instead of £285.

Similarly, a 20-year lease of a wall plaque in the Summer Garden will cost £510 instead of £495, while a 10-year lease will cost £294 instead of £285.

Entries into the crematorium’s Book of Remembrance will also cost more, with the price of a two line entry going up from £55 to £57, the cost of a five line entry rising from £89 to £92 and an eight line entry going up from £125 to £129.

Not a word was said about the recommended increases at February’s full council meeting where elected members voted on the final 2018/19 revenue budget.

Much of the debate instead centred around who originally approved the reintroduction of the controversial garden waste charge which also comes into effect this April.

Not a word was said about the increases