Council bosses want to charge grieving families £84 to livestream and record funerals if they can’t get to the service
- Perth and Kinross Council hopes to impose fee after coronavirus lockdown ends
- It will cost £60 to use the crematorium webcam to stream and £24 to record
- The move has since been branded as ‘insensitive’ by Labour and SNP councillors
Council bosses have come under fire over plans to charge grieving families £84 to live-stream and record funerals if they cannot attend the service.
Perth and Kinross Council hopes to impose a fee of £60 to use the crematorium’s webcam to stream ceremonies after the coronavirus lockdown ends.
It will cost the family of the deceased a further £24 to have a recording of funeral.
The move has since been branded as ‘insensitive’ by Labour and SNP councillors.
Perth and Kinross Council hopes to impose a fee of £60 to use the crematorium’s webcam to stream ceremonies after the coronavirus lockdown ends (Perth Crematorium pictured)
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, led by a minority Conservative administration, insist the new fees will not be put in place until after the restrictions on gatherings are lifted.
Other costs for the bereaved are also set to increase including planned price hikes for memorial benches.
Perth and Kinross Council are increasing the fee from £630 to £775 as well as introducing a new £150 fee for a 50-letter plaque.
Each three added letters above the 50 will cost a further £1.
Similarly, the cost of an extended service will be jumping from £100 to £175 and the use of a personal USB within the services is set to increase from £25 to £30.
It will cost the family of the deceased a further £24 to have a recording of funeral in a move branded as ‘insensitive’ by Labour and SNP councillors (Perth Crematorium pictured)
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.