Funeral Expense Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024: equality impact assessment

Who was involved in this EqIA

There has been policy engagement with stakeholders throughout the development of FSP and since launch.

The Funeral Poverty and Funeral Support Payment reference group^[12] was established in 2016 to help to bring a variety of informed perspectives and provide feedback on proposals for FSP. Membership includes funeral directors, local government, third sector and funeral industry experts. We have had a number of meetings with the group and in November 2023 we provided an overview of our proposed changes. Further to this we have met separately with some of the individual members.

Stakeholders who have contributed to this EqIA include Argyll & Bute Council, Funeral Solution Expert, National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), Scotmid Funerals, Scottish Women’s Convention, Shetland Council and Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF).

We have also worked closely with Social Security Scotland to understand management information statistics and utilised their client diversity and equalities analysis.

Although not specifically focused on these amendment regulations, we have carried out an evaluation of FSP.^[13] An external contractor carried out interviews with a number of clients, third sector representatives who provide support to recipients, and funeral directors. The evaluation of FSP, which was published in July 2022, identified a number of positive findings with participants describing the application process as being quick and easy. Funeral Support Payment also reduced the need for borrowing and reduced money-related stress and grief at a difficult time for applicants.

Potential improvements were also identified including, raising awareness and increasing take-up of FSP and reviewing accessibility concerns with the application form.