By Bill Heaney
The unfolding scandal of the Dumbarton High Street funeral business which gave the ashes of a deceased person to the wrong relatives has been raised in the Scottish Parliament.
Dame Jackie Baillie, the Dumbarton MSP and deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said the business was set up in recent times by father and daughter team Steven and Ashleigh Milne.
First Minister John Swinney and Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie.
Dame Jackie told First Minister John Swinney: “Ashes of the deceased have knowingly been given to the wrong relatives, and funeral plans have been mis-sold, defrauding people of thousands of pounds.
“Just this week, Mrs Barnes, my constituent, was told that the ashes of her mother, who died in 2021, have been found at the funeral parlour. Whose ashes was she given? Whose ashes did she scatter with her father’s?
“This Parliament passed legislation in 2016; regulations on a code of practice for funeral directors were passed in January but will not be implemented until March 2025; and we are still waiting for regulations on licensing and inspection, eight years on.
“Will the First Minister act urgently and accelerate the regulations, so that people can be protected from rogue funeral directors?”
The First Minister replied: ” I will certainly look in detail at the point that Jackie Baillie puts to me about the timescale on the regulations, because what she has recounted to me is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“It is heart-breaking for families who have already suffered bereavement, so the conduct is reprehensible in that respect. I will explore whether there is an opportunity to accelerate the timescale for the implementation of the regulations.
“I would make the point, which is relevant, that the overwhelming majority of funeral directors will operate with integrity and appropriateness at all times, but we have to ensure that there is protection in place for the public. I will look at whether we can address the issue that Jackie Baillie has put to me.”
The following story appeared on the BBC Scotland News website …
Family given stranger’s ashes after mother’s death
Patricia Alison passed away in April 2023, aged 100.
A grieving daughter has told of her upset after discovering the ashes she was given by a Scottish funeral director were the remains of a stranger.
Anne Gibson had an urn in her house for five months – believing it was her mother Patricia Alison – before being told her ashes were still at the crematorium.
A Milne Funeral Directors is being investigated by Police Scotland over allegations of financial mismanagement and issues with the return of ashes.
The company’s Dumbarton branch closed in 2023, while the Springburn branch was still registered as operating in March.
Ms Gibson’s mother died aged 100 in April 2023. She had a funeral plan with A Milne in Dumbarton.
Her ashes were not handed to the family until September that year.
Ms Gibson, who now lives in Manchester, said: “After the funeral we kept asking about collecting the ashes but there was always an excuse.
“Towards the end of September I said to them, we needed the ashes because I was moving away.”
The ashes were delivered a few days later.
However, the day before they intended to scatter the ashes in February this year Ms Gibson noticed there was no name on them.
She contacted West Dunbartonshire Council and was put in touch with Clydebank crematorium.
The Dumbarton branch of A Milne at the junction of High Street and Riverside Lane has closed down.
She said: “The man on the phone said to me that he had never seen this happen before and he didn’t know how to make what he was going to tell me any easier.
“He said he didn’t know who the ashes I had belonged to, or where that person had been cremated, because my mum’s ashes were sitting in front of him.
“We were sitting with those ashes in this house for five months believing they belonged to our mum.
“The whole time her ashes were at the crematorium, ignored, as if no one loved or cared about her. My mum didn’t deserve that.”
Ms Gibson said she was told the crematorium bill had still not been paid, despite her mother’s funeral plan.
Dennis Smillie took out a funeral plan with A Milne Funeral Directors
Dennis Smillie, from Dumbarton, also took out a funeral plan with A Milne before his death in November 2021.
His daughter-in-law Samantha Wotherspoon said that after the funeral they struggled to collect the ashes due to personal circumstances, but were told the funeral directors would deliver them instead.
Three years after his death, the family are still waiting to receive them.
She said: “We were in Dumbarton High Street and we noticed the funeral directors had changed name, it wasn’t A Milne any more.”
After contacting A Milne they were told the funeral had not been paid for.
They provided proof that they had paid the bill but received no response.
Ms Wotherspoon said: “The one thing we do know is the ashes were picked up from Cardross Crematorium, where they were signed for by A Milne Funeral Directors, we just don’t know where they went after.
She added: “It is hard to describe, I know how hurt my partner and his family are.
“When a family member dies you either have the ashes or a grave to visit, to give you some closure, we don’t have that.
“We just want him to be back where he needs to be, back with his family.”
‘My money, my funeral’
Marian McFadyen, 69, from Dumbarton, took out a funeral plan with A Milne in March 2021 which cost £3,200.
She told BBC Scotland News she thought she was being “sensible” and “rational” taking out a plan after experiencing difficulties planning funerals for her parents.
“I thought I have no children of my own, it’s nieces and nephews that I have, and I thought I’ve got no-one to do what I had to do for my parents,” she said.
She chose the independent funeral directors, who had a branch on her local high street, due to the price.
She continued: “I had thought about this long and hard, I had worked out the questions I wanted answered and one of them was if the business went into difficulty what would happened to my plan, my money, my funeral.”
She claims she was assured that the plan was fully protected by Golden Charter, a nationwide funeral plan provider.
Marian McFadyen took out a plan with A Milne in 2021
But after becoming concerned and getting no response from the funeral directors, she contacted Golden Charter who said they had no record of her plan or any other active plans with A Milne.
Ms McFadyen said she has reported the issue to the police and is in the process of trying to claim the money back through her bank.
A spokesperson for Golden Charter told BBC Scotland News their staff are aware of the issue.
They said: “We’re ready to support anyone who may have been misled into thinking they were purchasing a Golden Charter funeral plan from A Milne Independent Funeral Directors.
“The best thing to do is to send us copies of your paperwork and we will be able to ascertain very quickly if the plan is genuine or not.”
Police Scotland said its investigation was at an early stage.
A spokesperson said: “An investigation is ongoing into to the conduct of a former funeral company that had branches in Glasgow and Dumbarton with regard to the storage/return of cremated remains and allegations of financial misconduct.”
A Facebook group for family members unhappy with the company currently has more than 200 members.
The National Association of Funeral Directors confirmed they have also received a “number of complaints” relating to A Milne, which will be considered at a disciplinary hearing this month.
A Milne Funeral Directors have been approached for comment without success.