Arranging a funeral can be hard, and it can be an even more difficult experience if a person is also struggling to pay for it. The committee will be aware, from the evidence session that was held on 21 June 2018 as part of the consultation for the regulations, that many factors can impact the cost of a funeral. Those factors include decisions about burial or cremation, the location of the funeral and the type of coffin, flowers and memorial service.
I welcome this opportunity to highlight to the committee the significant difference that the regulations will make for people who are on low-income benefits by helping them with a contribution towards funeral costs. We are making good progress in preparing to deliver funeral expense assistance and are on track to launch this summer. Our priority for funeral expense assistance is to ensure that people can continue to access the financial support that they need when arranging a funeral while, at the same time, improving the support that is available, based on the feedback that we have received.
If approved, the regulations will establish a benefit that is in keeping with our social security principles, investing around £2 million of additional Scottish Government funding each year on top of the resources that are transferred by the UK Government. That commitment will take annual spending to more than £6 million in the first full year of operation.
The regulations set out in detail the entitlement rules for funeral expense assistance, which include provision for eligibility, what financial support is available and when to apply. We have made key improvements such as designing the eligibility criteria to ensure that the assistance reaches as many of the groups that were identified by stakeholders as possible. In doing so, we have widened eligibility by 40 per cent, which will enable us to support people who would otherwise receive no support at all through the current DWP funeral expenses payment. That substantial widening of eligibility shows what can be achieved if we take a different approach to social security.
We are also simplifying our application process to make clear who the Scottish ministers would expect to be the nearest relative in most cases for the purposes of arranging the funeral. At the same time, the process retains flexibility in relation to the application of the concept of nearest family member, to ensure that difficult family circumstances such as estrangement can be recognised on a case-by-case basis.
Following the consultation on the draft regulations, we have made further changes to our policy, including not requiring 16 and 17-year-olds to take responsibility for a funeral when another family member or friend wishes to organise the funeral and receive a payment. We have also decided to assess universal credit eligibility over a two-month period and have ensured that people who have a zero award due to a sanction are eligible for assistance.
It would not be affordable to make all the changes that have been suggested to us. However, we will annually increase the “other expenses” flat-rate element of the payment to take into account the impact of inflation from 2020-21 onwards—something that the UK Government has not done for 16 years.
The changes that we have made will mean that the payment process for the funeral expense assistance will be simpler and more transparent than the current funeral expenses payment. In addition, we will continue to engage with key stakeholders to promote the assistance in order to maximise take-up, and we will undertake a co-ordinated communications campaign.
The funeral expense assistance will foster dignity, fairness and respect by, where possible, minimising the intrusive questioning of clients by making the most of existing sources of information to evidence applications.
Our assistance has been built on modelling, research, collaboration with stakeholders and engagement with users to provide a sound evidence base for our decisions. I give recognition to and thank the individuals and organisations that have helped us to develop the funeral expense assistance to this point.
I welcome this opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the Funeral Expense Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 2019, and I am happy to take questions.