Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to locate her grandmother’s ashes. This is because the complaint is late, and it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council cannot find her grandmother’s ashes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

5. Mrs X’s grandmother (Mrs Y) died in 1993 and was cremated. Mrs X says Mrs Y’s ashes were to be interred under a rose tree in a specific plot. In 2013, the Council wanted £480 for the plot to be kept ‘alive’ and for Mrs Y’s ashes to remain in place. Mrs X decided to have the ashes exhumed. In 2014 the Council carried out the exhumation but could not locate Mrs Y’s ashes.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council in 2020. In its responses to Mrs X, the Council said:
• The cremation register shows Mrs Y was due to be interred in a specific plot.
• There were no records which show this happened. It was therefore possible the Council had received a further instruction about what to do with Mrs Y’s ashes.
• Record keeping had now improved, but the gap between cremation and exhumation made it very difficult to identify what had happened.
• It recognised it was a sad situation which had caused a lot of distress.
7. I understand how distressing the issue at the heart of Mrs X’s complaint must be. But we normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. I see no reason why Mrs X could not have complained much earlier, and so the exception at paragraph 2 applies to her complaint.
8. But even if Mrs X’s complaint was not late, it is unlikely we would investigate. This is because the Council has investigated and responded to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council cannot say what happened to Mrs Y’s ashes due to a lack of records. It is therefore very difficult to see what we could add to the response Mrs X has already received. An investigation would not therefore be appropriate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late, and it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman