Coventry City Council (19 011 656)
Category : Environment and regulation > Cemeteries and crematoria
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Dec 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s interment charges. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s interment charges for non-residents.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X’s son sadly passed away in 2019. Mr X is unhappy because the Council charges a ‘non-resident’ interment fee. This is twice the normal rate if the deceased did not pay their council tax to Coventry City Council at the time of their death. Mr X has complained to the Council and it has explained its policy has been in place since January 2009.
- The role of the Ombudsman is to look for administrative fault. It is not our role to tell councils what policies and procedures they should operate. I understand Mr X is disappointed with the Council’s decision, and how upsetting recent events must have been. But there is nothing to stop the Council charging higher interment rates for non-residents. Many other councils operate similar polices. The Council seems to have properly applied its own policy and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman