The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Council seek price rise for web funerals
Bereaved families could face a new charge of £84 to have their loved ones’ funeral recorded and streamed online for people who cannot attend the service.
Perth and Kinross Council are seeking to implement the controversial measure in their budget with price hikes also set for memorial benches.
The local authority hopes to impose a fee of £60 to use the crematorium webcam to stream the ceremony.
It will cost the family of the deceased a further £24 to have a recording of the funeral.
The streaming and recording of funerals has become common during lockdown due to the limited number of people able to attend services during the pandemic.
The council insist the new fees will not be put in place until after the restrictions on gatherings are lifted. However, the charges were non-existent in the last budget.
Other costs for the bereaved are also set to increase with the cost of an extended service jumping from £100 to £175 and the use of a personal USB within the services increasing from £25 to £30.
Families wishing to commemorate their loved ones with a memorial bench are also facing a huge increase in cost.
The cost of purchasing a memorial bench from Perth and Kinross council will rise from £630 to £775 while a new £150 fee for a 50-letter plaque is also set to be introduced.
Each three added letters above the 50 will cost a further £1.
Some political parties have already said they will oppose the charges at the budget meeting.
Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey said: “Our group’s amendment will demonstrate that, even in these tough times, there are things we can do to address inequalities and help the least well off in our society.
“We will be rejecting the proposal to charge for video recordings of funerals until such a time that travel is back to normal as it doesn’t seem right to charge grieving families who are unable to attend in person.”
Councillor Grant Laing, SNP group leader, said his party opposed the charges from the start.
He said: “It’s insensitive and we will be going forward to reject the charges for memorial benches as well.”
A spokesman from the council said the charges won’t come into effect until after the restrictions on funerals have been lifted by the Scottish Government.
The local authority also insisted the future income generated from the new fee will be used to pay for the installation and maintenance of the system.