Pressure is mounting on the UK Government to increase funeral payments and legally require councils to justify burial and cremation price rises.

A report into funeral poverty commissioned by the Scottish Government recommends MSPs call on Westminster to increase Social Fund payments to ensure they cover the cost of a basic funeral, which averages at £2300.

Funeral poverty is when an individual is unable to pay their household bills and other essential costs after paying for a funeral.

The report, published by Citizens Advice Scotland, also calls for MSPs to amend the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Bill, which is currently passing through the Scottish Parliament, to require local authorities to justify any increases in burial and cremation charges.

Paul Cuthell, a funeral director in central Scotland and spokesman for the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), said: "This report supports much of the work being carried out by the NAFD on supporting bereaved families by increasing the Social Fund payment and also in putting pressure on local authorities to justify often large increases in costs for little apparent reason other than to raise money.

"Bereaved families deserve to be able to hold a funeral without the added stress of worrying about how to pay for it and it is important to recognise that the vast majority of funeral directors in this country are small businesses and are forced to absorb the debts of those who cannot afford to pay, which can have a significant effect.

"Local authorities, too, must play their part in asking themselves why they are increasing costs related to end of life so sharply and whether those increases are necessary."

At present, the Social Fund payment covers the cost of a burial or cremation and makes a further £700 maximum available for "other funeral expenses", which covers essentials such as a coffin, memorial and the services of a funeral director.

The average cost of a funeral in the UK is approximately £3500, while the average funeral directors' cost within that is £2334, NAFD said.

Bereaved families have also seen costs increase sharply by local authorities increasing the cost of burial plots, many of which have risen beyond inflation. Burial fees cost £1273, on average, in Scotland.

The committee previously heard evidence from Citizens Advice Scotland that the average cost of a funeral in Scotland in 2015 was £3550. The submission also showed the wide variation in costs across the country.

Social justice secretary Alex Neil said: "With funeral costs rising above inflation, and many low income families not having a funeral plan or savings in place for a funeral, we are concerned about funerals being delayed and families taking on unmanageable debt.

"This report outlines a number of recommendations to tackle the problem head on, but we know that we can’t solve funeral poverty alone, which is why we will bring together funeral directors, charities, councils and health and social care services for the first ever national conference on funeral poverty."

The cheapest burials, including purchase of lair and cost of internment, were in the Western Isles and cost an average of £694. East Dunbartonshire was found to be the most expensive at £2785.

Cremation when organised through a local authority was cheapest in Inverclyde at £512 and most expensive in Perth and Kinross at £749. When conducted privately, the cheapest was Paisley at £585 and most expensive was Moray at £830.

Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, convener of the Church of Scotland's church and society council said: "Every week the Church of Scotland supports hundreds of families as they mourn the death of someone they love.

"In recent times, we have become more and more aware that for many, alongside the grief, is the fear of the cost of the funeral.

"The escalating cost of funerals is an attack on people when they are at their most vulnerable and felt, most acutely, by those who have the least in the first place. The Church welcomes this report and hopes that its contents and recommendations might act as a wake-up call and result in real change.

"The obscenity of people being forced into crippling debt as they pay for the funeral of a loved one must be consigned to the history books."