Citizens advice to give support on how to plan for a funeral

Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford this week welcomed the news that the Citizens Advice bureaux are to expand their support to people needing advice on funeral planning.

Local CABs have already been running a similar scheme which will be extended into Stirling and across the whole of Scotland.

Among the measures to be intriduced are a new e-learning module and regional training events for staff, and further support for people to access funeral payments

The recent social security consultation, which ended last month, included a section on the funeral payment, which is one of the benefits that will be transferred to Scotland with the new social security powers.

The Scottish Government has already committed to processing applications within 10 working days of receipt, in order to ease the impact of long processing times.

Mr Crawford said : “Funerals are very personal, wrapped up in family and tradition. But they can also be stressful, especially when money is tight. It is important that people are able to organise and pay for a funeral which meets their needs within their budget. But it can be difficult for bereaved people to compare funeral prices and get the full picture of the options that are open to them.

“CAB advisers already play a vital role in providing advice and support around funeral planning and this new initiative will ensure the very best advice and support is available to people across Stirling Constituency when they are faced with planning and paying for a funeral.

“Devolution of funeral payments provides an opportunity to set up a new system which is more predictable, processed more quickly and joined up with Scottish policy.”