Council preparing to call a halt on child burial fees

● Councillors set to scrap charge of up to £918

Perth and Kinross Council is set to abolish burial fees for children following pressure to ease the burden on bereaved families after charges were scrapped in Wales and England.

The council is one of eight in Scotland that will be the last parts of the UK where parents are asked by their local authority to pay in order to bury their child.

Charges in Perth and Kinross are up to £144 for a child between the ages of two and 15, rising to £918 for people aged 16 and over.

Last month, East Lothian became the first Scottish local authority to scrap its burial fees for children following Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement that the practice would stop in England.

The proposal is expected to be rubber-stamped by councillors today. If approved, council bosses in Perth will be among the first in the country to waive fees for youngsters under the age of 18.

A council spokeswoman said: “The move is intended to support families at a difficult time in their lives, and will be implemented immediately if the environment and infra- structure committee gives its go ahead.”

Committee convener, Conservative councillor Angus Forbes, added: “The council is committed to treating all families who need to use our bereavement services with dignity and compassion.

“While thankfully only a small number of the funerals the team supports each year are for people under the age of 18, this proposal demonstrates our sympathy for families who have to deal with this difficult situation.”

Of the remaining seven local authorities, Dundee charges the highest interment fees for children, with the burial of a child between the ages of two and 11 costing up to £408, with the price rising to £827 for children over the age of 12.

The decision by Perth and Kinross was welcomed by Tory MSP for Mid-scotland and Fife Alexander Stewart.

He said: “No family going through such a traumatic experience should have to worry about funeral costs for their youngsters and this is why I have regularly called for all councils across Scotland who aren’t doing so, to follow the lead of the Prime Minister’s intervention to scrap burial fees in England.”

Mrs May’s announcement in April followed a campaign by Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who was forced to take out a £700 loan after her son was killed in a road accident.