Funeral Poverty and Funeral Support Payment Reference Group minutes: March 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Bryan Kerr, Church of Scotland 
• Ewan Gurr, Funeral link
• Jennifer Hamilton, Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management 
• John Halliday, Caledonia Funeral Aid 
• Josiah Cadman, Association of British Credit Unions
• Lindesay Mace, Down to Earth, Quaker Social Action 
• Mathew Crawley, Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management 
• Reid Stillman, Funeral Link

Apologies

• Amy Dalrymple, Marie Curie
• Elaine Thornton-Nicol, Scottish Older Peoples Assembly 
• Fiona Arnott-Barron, Cruse Scotland  
• Jane Matheson, Scottish Working Group on Funeral Poverty
• Natalie McQuade, Association of British Credit Unions

Scottish Government Attendees 

• Barry Pattison, Scottish Government Policy (Chair) 
• Martyn Lindsay, Scottish Government Policy 

Items and actions

Introduction

The meeting opened with a welcome and round of introductions.

The chair outlined the purpose and history of the group for those attending their first meeting and noted that this was the first meeting of the group since June 2024.

The chair also noted that Michelle Rumgay has moved onto a new role in the Scottish Government and put on record thanks to her for the role she played in bringing Funeral Support Payment amendment regulations into force in 2024, these made various improvements including allowing Funeral Support Payment to be awarded for funerals that involve alkaline hydrolysis. The chair also outlined that “alkaline hydrolysis” is now referred to as “hydrolysis” in regulations.

Hydrolysis regulation in Scotland

The chair took the group through an update on Hydrolysis regulations. This covered what hydrolysis is, a new funerary method which uses hot water and chemicals with the remains becoming powder. The update also covered the background to the regulations and what they do, the responsibilities of individuals or businesses who intend to set up as a hydrolysis authority and when we may expect to see the first hydrolysis facilities open, with an acknowledgement that we do not know when the first hydrolysis facility will open in Scotland.

This was followed by a discussion in the group. Some of the points discussed included:

• How hydrolysis would be offered and whether that would be alongside burial and cremation. The chair outlined that hydrolysis would be offered as an alternative funerary method to burial and cremation, not a replacement.
• How applications for Funeral Support Payment and hydrolysis would work in operation.
• Whether any applications had been received or if an inspectorate of hydrolysis was in post. The chair was not aware of any hydrolysis applications being received and stated they would reach out to the policy officials who drafted the hydrolysis regulations to find out if an inspectorate of hydrolysis was in post.
• What the average costs for hydrolysis would be and how this was modelled and impacted for Funeral Support Payment. On this point it was noted that the Business and Regulatory Assessment (BRIA) for the hydrolysis regulations was available which provides some impacting on this issue. The chair agreed to share the BRIA with the group via email after the meeting.
• The importance of wording in communications and literature was discussed with some of the language, particularly in regulations, considered to be quite blunt. It was agreed to try to use language such as “funerary method” going forward, especially for public facing materials.

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee FSP meeting

The chair provided an update on the work of the Social Justice and Social Security Meeting which heard evidence on Funeral Support Payment on 19 February 2026. The evidence session heard from funeral directors and third sector organisations on the following themes:

• Funeral Support Payment being paid to the client or the funeral director​
• Effectiveness of Funeral Support Payment in addressing funeral poverty ​
• Take-up rate of Funeral Support Payment​
• Improvements to Funeral Support Payment administration

There was some discussion amongst the group on these themes and on other areas.

• There was some question around the methodology to provide the 61% take-up rate of Funeral Support Payment. The chair explained that analysts have a methodology to calculate this but that it was worth noting that any people who may be eligible may have already made provision for their own funeral. The chair agreed to share a copy of the most recent Take-up rates of Scottish Benefits publication, which was published in October 2025, with the group as this gives further details on how the take-up rate for Funeral Support Payment is estimated.
• Some of the group expressed a wish for more flexibility around Funeral Support Payment, including the option to pay it to students or people on low income but not on qualifying benefits.
• While it was welcomed that Funeral Support Payment has extra flexibility in comparison to the DWP equivalent and that it has been up-rated, a question was asked about why the policy aim is to provide a contribution towards the funeral costs when those eligible are in receipt of income-related benefits and therefore identified as being on a very low income. The chair agreed to follow up this aspect in writing separately after the meeting to outline the policy intent when Funeral Support Payment launched.
• There was also a point raised that some of the SJSS committee members were more interested in the Scottish Government position of whether take-up of Funeral Support Payment  is 61%, during the SJSS committee session. The stakeholder believes there's a sense of fear that if there was a take-up campaign, that might cost money targeting everyone - when it could be aimed specifically at funeral directors. The stakeholder in attendance at the reference group meeting also seemed surprised that take-up is as low as 61%. The chair reiterated that they would share the most recent Take-up rates of Scottish Benefits publication, to outline how the estimated take-up rate is calculated and advised that not everyone who is eligible for Funeral Support Payment will apply as many people may have made provisions for their funeral. 

Funeral Support Payment Statistics

Given time constraints this agenda item was skipped with the relevant information to be shared with attendees following the meeting.

AOB

AOB consisted of a continuation of the discussion of next steps now that stakeholders have provided their evidence to the SJSS committee.  The chair said that Scottish Government Policy Officials will support Scottish Ministers with any decisions they make as a result of the evidence provided at the SJSS committee session. 

The meeting ended with the chair thanking members for their attendance. The chair also outlined that answers to questions raised where a written response was promised, slides for all agenda items, a copy of the Take-up rates of Scottish Benefits publication and minutes of the meeting for agreement, would be shared with the group.

Action Points

• The chair to reach out to the policy officials who drafted the hydrolysis regulations to find out if an inspectorate of hydrolysis was in post. Complete – response shared on 2 April 2026
• The chair to share the Business and Regulatory Assessment (BRIA) for the hydrolysis regulations. Complete - response shared on 2 April 2026
• The chair to share the most recent Take-up rates of Scottish Benefits publication, which was published in October 2025. Complete - response shared on 2 April 2026
• The chair to outline the policy intent of Funeral Support Payment at launch to provide a contribution towards the funeral costs when those eligible are in receipt of income-related benefits and therefore identified as being on a very low income.  Complete - response shared on 2 April 2026