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For the purposes of developing the Maternity and Early Years Allowance, Scottish Government officials have carried out an assessment of the cost of essential items for a new born child and shared these with stakeholders. We consider that these items could be bought with the £600 maternity payment that the Maternity and Early Years Allowance will make for first children. Officials have also sought opinions from users and potential users about their perception of the level of the current Sure Start Maternity Grant. Support with the overall or basic costs of having a child will continue to be met through a combination of benefits, many of which remain reserved and which make regular payments in addition to those planned by the Scottish Government on receipt of additional powers.

The Scottish Government is in the process of organising a national conference as part of the range of work currently being undertaken to address the issue of the costs of funerals including hosting round table discussions between Scottish Ministers and stakeholders and working with stakeholders to provide information to help people plan ahead for their own funeral.

The Department of Work and Pensions is responsible for the funeral payment.

We have worked extensively with all those with an interest in the area of the costs of funerals and the adequacy of funeral payments. We commissioned a report on funeral poverty from John Birrell, Chair of the Scottish working Group on Funeral Poverty and Citizens Advice Scotland, and are taking forward the recommendations from that report. That report and the Scottish Governments response was published on 3 February 2016 and can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/fairerscotland/future-powers/Publications.

We have also gathered evidence from academic papers, annually published research on funeral costs, third sector reports and professionals who work with bereaved people. In future, various measures will be established to evaluate the impact of the funeral payment alongside other social security benefits once they are devolved.

After recognising the issue of the costs of funerals the Scottish Government commissioned a report into funeral poverty, referred to in S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016 to examine this issue. We are concerned about the costs of funerals and have plans to take this forward with those in the industry. We will also seek to publish a funeral costs plan to tackle issues relating to the affordability of funerals.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00236 on 14 June 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

We want the powers to control the funeral payment as soon as practically possible, however timescales for delivering benefits in Scotland are yet to be formalised. There is much work to do to support our policy objectives on funeral poverty and the costs of a funeral and decisions about the detail of the replacement for the funeral payment can only be made in this wider context.

A stakeholder reference group has been set up to advise on work on funeral poverty and the development of the funeral payment. The funeral payment will form part of the wider consultation over the summer on devolved social security benefits, to gather views to inform decisions, including those around eligibility. We will also be taking forward the next steps in the delivery process, which will involve some of the financial, legal and practical considerations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00236 on 14 June 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.