Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint the Council will no longer allow her to place personal memorabilia on the vaults of her mother, father and daughter. Further consideration of the complaint is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains the Council removed personal memorabilia from her father, mother and daughters’ vaults. Mrs B complains that she was allowed to do this for several years without being aware of the terms and conditions of the cemetery. Mrs B is unhappy with the Council’s explanation of its decision to start enforcing this rule.

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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 cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information Mrs B provided and the Terms and Conditions from the Council website. Mrs B was given the opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. In August 2018 Mrs B attended the cemetery and found that personal memorabilia had been removed from the vaults of her father, mother and daughter. Mrs B had been placing items on the vaults for several years before this without any issues. Mrs B complained to the Council. The Council says the rule is set out in the terms and conditions when the lease is purchased.
6. Mrs B complained to the Council about why it started to enforce the rule when it had previously allowed her to place items on the vault. The Council provided several reasons for this including; damage to the granite, items being used in acts of vandalism, encroachment onto other vaults and maintaining high standards of appearance. Mrs B is unhappy with the Council’s explanation.
7. This is a sensitive matter and I do not doubt the upset caused to Mrs B and her family by the Council’s removal of personal items that had previously been allowed.
8. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to make comment or judgement on terms and conditions in place at the cemetery. The Ombudsman can only consider whether the Council’s decision to remove the items has been affected by fault. To do this I have considered the Council’s terms and conditions for the cemetery and the correspondence between Mrs B and the Council.
9. The Council terms and conditions says: “No unauthorised plaques, flower containers, memorabilia, items of personalisation to be placed upon the vault or within the garden areas” and “Any items placed upon the vault will be moved and disposed of without prior notice”.
10. Further investigation of this complaint is unlikely to find fault by the Council. The terms and conditions explain what can be left at vaults. The Council is seeking to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions. I note the Council could have removed and disposed of the items, but it did not. The items were retained and returned to the family.
11. The Council has accepted that it did not explain the terms and conditions to Mrs B in person at the time she purchased the vaults. The Council has since reminded employees to ensure they make families aware of the terms and conditions. The Council has apologised to Mrs B for this.
12. The Council has agreed to allow Mrs B to place items on the vaults for anniversaries, and has apologised for the distress its actions caused to Mrs B.
13. Mrs B remains unhappy with the terms and conditions and feels they should be amended. But the Ombudsman could not say the Council should allow the family to continue to do something that is against the terms and conditions of the cemetery.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because further consideration of the complaint is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman