Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to ensure her father, Mr Y, was buried properly. She also said the cemetery workers employed by the Council behaved inappropriately. She said this caused her and her family distress and upset. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not consider the poor weather conditions when burying her father, Mr Y. She said this caused his grave to become severely waterlogged and she and her family had to repair it.
2. She was also unhappy the cemetery workers who interred her father behaved in manner that intimidated members of her family.
3. She said this experience caused her and her family significant emotional distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered her view of the case.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and reviewed the information it provided.
   This included a copy of Mrs X’s complaint form, correspondence shared between Mrs X and the Council and pictures Mrs X provided.
8. I wrote to Mrs X and the Council and considered their comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Council Policy

9. The Council’s policy says the filling in of a grave should begin immediately after all mourners have left the cemetery and be completed in full on the same working day.

What happened

10. Mr Y was buried at a Council run cemetery in March 2019. Prior to the burial,
    it had rained heavily for several days.
11. Mrs X said some of her family members witnessed cemetery workers standing too close to the burial site, which they found intimidating. Family members also told Mrs X the cemetery workers jumped into Mr Y’s grave and began filling it whilst family members were still present.
12. Mrs X visited Mr Y’s grave the day after the funeral, along with some members of her family. They found Mr Y’s grave very waterlogged, with the edges of the grave collapsing inwards. Mrs X’s sister is buried next to Mr Y and Mrs X said her grave had also been affected. Mrs X and her family were very distressed by this.
13. Mrs X contacted the Council to report what had happened. Mrs X said a Council employee told her no one was available to attend to the grave that day, but someone may visit the site the next day.
14. Mrs X said a cemetery worker told her there was clay soil left over, which was heavier than the soil the Council workers had used to fill Mr Y’s grave and therefore less likely to sink during bad weather. So Mrs X and her family decided to use the Council’s equipment to fix the grave themselves. Mrs X said this took them several hours.
15. Mrs X complained to the Council because she was unhappy with the cemetery workers’ conduct and felt the Council failed to take the weather conditions into account when burying her father. She asked the Council to refund the £866 interment fee she paid because she did not feel this payment was justified.
16. The Council responded at Stage 1 of its complaints process in April 2019 and apologised for Mrs X’s experience. The Council said excessive rainfall caused Mr Y’s grave to sink but the funeral director had visited the cemetery the day after the funeral and found the grave in good condition.
17. The Council said it had visited the site again the following day and topped up and mounded the grave because it had settled. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaints about the cemetery worker’s conduct and did not find evidence they behaved inappropriately. The Council offered to refund £100 of the £866 interment fee she paid, as a goodwill gesture.
18. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response. She said she had been told cemetery workers were at the cemetery on the day following her father’s burial. Therefore, she said the Council could and should have acted sooner to prevent her father’s grave becoming waterlogged. She also disagreed with the Council’s assessment of the cemetery worker’s conduct during the service.
19. The Council responded at Stage 2 of its complaints process in May 2019, confirming the cemetery workers were not at the cemetery when Mrs X reported the condition of Mr Y’s grave and planned to visit the site the next day.
    The Council confirmed there were no official requirements for inspecting and backfilling graves, but it visited the grave at the earliest opportunity and would continue to monitor the grave in future.
20. The Council also clarified that occasionally, cemetery workers need to enter the grave to backfill and remove metal shoring. The Council confirmed the workers are trained to enter the grave in a safe, respectful manner and would usually only do so if all funeral goers had left the burial site. The Council apologised if any remaining funeral goers had witnessed the cemetery workers accessing the grave once the main funeral party exited the cemetery. The Council maintained its offer to reduce the interment fee by £100.
21. Mrs X referred her complaint to the Ombudsman, as she was not satisfied with the Council’s response.

My findings

22. It is now not possible to say what happened on the day of the burial. Because of the poor weather conditions, the grave subsequently became waterlogged. Mrs X and other members of the family witnessed this the following day. Mrs X reported this to the Council who said it would mound and re-level the grave but could not do so that same day. Mrs X and the family subsequently carried out the work themselves that day. The Council visited within 48 hours of the burial, added additional soil and considered it to be in a satisfactory condition. It has confirmed it will continue to monitor Mr Y’s grave. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
23. Mrs X also complained about the cemetery worker’s behaviour during and after Mr Y’s burial. The Council has investigated and found no fault. There is nothing I can add to this. I was not there and cannot say what happened. I will not investigate this complaint any further.

Final decision

24. There was no fault by the Council and therefore I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman