Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about changes the Council has made to the maintenance of a cemetery. This is because the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainants, whom I refer to as Mr & Mrs X, complain the Council has turned a woodland cemetery into a place that resembles a suburban garden. They want the Council to change the cemetery back into a woodland site or give them a refund.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr & Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mr & Mrs X buried a relative in the woodland section of the cemetery. It was their understanding that the grass would be cut twice a year and only native trees could be planted.
6. In July 2018 the Council wrote to grave holders to say it was considering increasing the grass cutting and putting grass seed on the graves. The Council asked people for their views. Mr & Mrs X objected. The Council implemented the change because it only received one objection. It increased the grass cutting from two to four cuts a year.
7. Mr & Mrs X visited the grave in 2020 and were unhappy with the appearance of the cemetery. They complained to the Council that it no longer resembled the woodland cemetery that they had wanted as a resting place for their relative. They said it looked like a neatly clipped garden and the Council had turned the site into an orchard without their consent. They said the Council had breached their consumer rights.
8. In reply, the Council explained it increased the grass cutting in 2018 after it had received complaints that people could not find graves or walk around safely. It said it had sought views and that it only received one objection. It said the grass cutting had increased from two to four cuts a year; in the other cemetery sections the grass is cut 12 to 15 times a year. The Council said Mr & Mrs X did not purchase exclusive burial rights so the Council has ownership and control of the land. The Council said Mr & Mrs X had visited soon after a grass cutting which is why the grass looked short.
9. The Council explained that the relative is buried in an extension to the original woodland site which had always been called the orchard and where the planting of fruit trees is encouraged. The same environmentally friendly principles apply to the orchard extension. It said the only change it had implemented was the increased grass cutting and it denied breaching any consumer rights.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr & Mrs X have known about the increased grass cutting since 2018 but they did not complain to us until December 2020. I have not seen any good reason for them to wait for more than two years to complain when they had made an objection to the Council in 2018.
11. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The complainants did not purchase exclusive burial rights so the Council can decide how to manage the area. The only substantive change is the increased grass cutting which the Council did after consultation and after receiving complaints about the long grass. It has also explained that the relative is buried in an area where the planting of fruit trees was always permitted and that the same environmentally friendly policies apply throughout the woodland/orchard cemetery.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman