Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s charges for the burial of his partner. The Council had no direct involvement with Mr X and if he disputes the charges he should raise the matter with the funeral director.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s charges for the burial of his partner (Ms Y) and other services relating to her interment in a council cemetery. He says its charges of more than £1,700 are excessive and that he is not liable to pay the costs.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.

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What I found

4. Ms Y sadly died in 2019. Mr X appointed a funeral director to handle the arrangements but says they did not tell him the Council would charge £1,640 to re-open Ms Y’s mother’s grave so that she could be buried in the same plot. Mr X also says he was unaware of the Council’s £95 licence fee to add further engraving to the headstone and says that his brother-in-law should be liable for these costs as he is the owner of the grave.
5. Mr X has no direct involvement or contract with the Council for its services. The arrangements for Ms Y’s funeral were decided by Mr X and carried out by the funeral director. It was the funeral director who contracted with the Council and it was their responsibility to inform Mr X of its charges. The Council has not billed Mr X and if Mr X disputes his liability for the charges he would need to take this up with the funeral director and/or his brother-in law.

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Final decision

6. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council causing Mr X injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman