Scottish basic funeral costs increase 75 percent in eight years

Data obtained by BBC Scotland research suggests that the average cost of a funeral in Scotland has increased by 75 percent since 2010.

The data gathered through the Freedom of Information Act requests found that the cost of a basic funeral varied between £310 in the Western Isles to £1,780 in Sterling, making the average cost of a basic funeral £730.

The average fee for a cremation across 14 local authorities also increased by 46 percent to £685 over the same period.

In Shetland, interment fees have increased by 355 percent from £110 to £500 since 2010 and in South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire the charge has risen by 151 percent and 136 percent respectively.

Last week, (1 June 2018) the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Treasury announced that they would separately be investigating the funeral sector, examining pre-paid funeral plans and looking at whether information provided by funeral directors on prices and services were clear enough.