Compensation for Fife families affected by baby ashes scandal - BBC News
Payments are agreed after parents in Fife were told babies were too small for ashes to be recovered.
Dunfermline Crematorium and Kirkcaldy Crematorium are operated by Fife Council

Families affected by the baby ashes scandal at council-run crematoria in Fife are to receive compensation payments of up to £4,000.

The payments will be made after parents were wrongly told their babies were too small for their ashes to be recovered.

In fact, staff at crematoria in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy disposed of the children's ashes anonymously, sometimes in the waste.

Fife Council said it apologised unreservedly to the families.

Campaigners estimate that more than 450 families across Scotland were affected by the baby ashes scandal.

Inquiries into the scandal led to apologies and changes in the law.

Councils including Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow have already agreed compensation, now Fife council has followed suit with a similar scheme.

Thompsons Solicitors, who represent eight of the families involved, said the agreement was "of huge significance to the parents affected".

Solicitor Catherine McGarrell added: "It has been a long, emotional journey for the parents but this does provide some small comfort."

She also welcomed moves by the council to engage with families over a permanent memorial to the children.

Ms McGarrell added: "The agreement of Fife Council to this compensation scheme is of huge significance to the parents affected.

"The amounts of money involved are of a far lesser importance than the sign of good faith shown by the local authority.

"The council have backed up their public apology with real action which is welcomed by my clients. "

A memorial to the families affected by the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal was unveiled on Saturday in Edinburgh.

Alan Paul, a senior manager with Fife Council, said: "We have apologised unreservedly to families who were affected by our past practices and recognise the harm and distress that it caused."

"As documented, some infants' ashes were unrecovered from the chamber and we have changed our practices to avoid this happening again.

"We previously invited families to discuss a specific memorial to their infants and have just this week received some ideas from their representatives, which we will be discussing in due course."

Families affected can come forward for compensation until the scheme closes on 1 March.

Baby ashes were buried in secret at Mortonhall for more than 40 years