Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with matters following the death of a person in a nursing home. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains about the Council’s failure to tell her and her family that her cousin who was a resident in a nursing home had died. Mrs B says the Council arranged her cousin’s funeral without telling his family and failed to record where her late cousin’s ashes are. She also has concerns about her cousin’s missing personal possessions. Mrs B says the Council has refused to investigate the complaint because it is late despite her explanation it took until 2025 to identify it was responsible for the funeral arrangements as well as other matters. Mrs B says the Council’s actions has caused her to experience distress and concern about how her cousin was treated.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs B’s cousin lived in a nursing home, and she said he had an address book which contained the names of family members. Mrs B’s cousin died in 2023. She said the Council did not contact any family members after her cousin’s death and did not tell them about the funeral arrangements.
7. Mrs B said it took until July 2025 to identify the nursing home where her cousin was placed and had subsequently died. In her complaint she said she had to find out where her cousin’s ashes were to ensure he was laid to rest. She said his address book and house keys remained missing and she had concerns about this. Mrs B said she wanted the Council to provide a detailed response and chronology of what happened as she had found the events distressing. She asked for the death certificate and for the Council to confirm whether a
   post-mortem had been completed.
8. The Council replied to the complaint and said it had reviewed the complaint and the main issues related to events surrounding her cousin which happened in 2023. It said under its complaint procedures the issues fell outside the one-year time limit for submitting a complaint. It said it recognised the significance of
   Mrs B’s concerns, but it would not be reasonable or proportionate to investigate now. It provided information to explain how Mrs B could get a copy of a death certificate and contact the coroner about a post-mortem.
9. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now. The Council’s complaint procedures are in accordance with the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman