BURIAL charges for all children could be completely done away with in the Wee County if agreed by councillors tomorrow.

As reported in the Advertiser last April, Clackmannanshire Council is leading the way on reducing funeral costs for grieving families, with internment fees already being waived.

In addition, it is currently free to use a council premises to host a service for a child aged five or under.

However, the local authority is looking to go a step further by also removing lair and headstone fees.

Infants who have passed can also be buried in small graves at a special memorial garden at Sunnyside Cemetery.

But, while there is no charge for burials here either, memorial headstones cannot be erected in this area.

Purchasing a full-sized lair for a child’s burial, which can accommodate a few relatives in later years, comes with a price of £854.10.

The paper coming to the Place Committee on Thursday, September 13, will ask councillors to remove all fees relating to the burials of children and young people up to the age of 17 “with immediate effect”.

However, it added: “Further, the council should consider whether to charge an interment fee and maintenance fee together with, if applicable, the headstone fees for subsequent adult burials in the same lair.

“A lair can accommodate up to three burials.”

The maintenance fee, which was introduced last year, is £255.80 while a headstone permit and foundation comes in at £344.70.

Currently, the total money paid to the local authority for a child’s burial in a newly purchased full-sized lair is £1,454.60, bereaved families saving on the internment, the digging and filling in of the grave, which would cost a further £827.

Council documents also highlighted there were no instances when a family requested to bury a child in a full lair last year, but there were six infants under the age of one buried at the Sunnyside Cemetery baby area.

And added: “The number of future child burial requests is difficult to predict.

“It maybe that requests for such burials will increase due to the removal of charges.

“In particular, in relation to infant burials it could be that families will prefer their child to be buried outwith the designated baby area in order that a further two family members may be buried in the same lair at some time in the future.”

The move to withdraw the charges comes after commitments from the Scottish Government and COSLA, the former indicating £310,000 a year would be available to local authorities in financial support.

Based on child populations, the council would receive £3,100 which would cover less than two funerals, on the basis of the £1,454.60 the it currently seeks.