Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council burying the complainant’s mother in the wrong burial plot. This is because the Council has offered a fair remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council buried her mother in the wrong plot.

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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 an investigation if we believe the Council has provided a fair remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered our guidance on appropriate remedies for complaints and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision

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What I found

What happened

4. Many years ago Ms X’s mother (Mrs A) bought three adjacent burial plots. Mrs A died last year. The Council made an error and buried Mrs A in the wrong plot. The Council used a plot in front of the three plots Mrs A had bought. The error means other family members, including Ms X, cannot be buried next to Mrs A.
5. The Council offered its condolences and sincere apologies for the error. It said it will do a review to find out why it dug the wrong plot. The Council spoke to the family who own the plot next to where Mrs A is buried to see if they would move to a different plot so that Mrs A’s relatives could be buried next to her. The family explained they did not wish to move.
6. As a remedy the Council offered two options. It said it could exhume Mrs A and rebury her in the correct plot. The Council would pay all the costs. Alternatively, the Council offered to refund the burial fees (£760), pay £250 to charity and buy back the other two plots.
7. Ms X does not wish to rebury her mother and is dissatisfied with the alternative suggestion. She says the error has been very traumatic. Ms X wants the Council to refund all the costs, pay for a grave stone and a memorial bench, and provide a meaningful apology.

Assessment

8. The Council made a serious mistake which caused great upset at what was already a difficult time. And, given the nature of the mistake, it is not possible to totally undo or put right the error. We generally try to put people back in the position they would have been in had the error not been made – but, in this case, that is not possible.
9. I will not start an investigation because the Council has offered a fair remedy in the context of what it can do – bearing in mind in cannot undo what happened. It offered to rebury Mrs A in the correct plot. For understandable reasons this is not something Ms X wants but it is still a fair remedy for the Council to offer and is something we expect it to offer. As an alternative it has offered to refund the costs, pay money to charity and buy back the other two plots. Both options were accompanied by sincere apologies and a decision to review what happened. In financial terms both options have a value of at least £1500 and our guidance suggests a maximum financial remedy of £1000 for distress.
10. I appreciate this has been a deeply distressing time for Ms X and her family and in some respects no remedy can make up for what happened. But, I will not start an investigation because the remedy offered by the Council is fair and proportionate.
11. Ms X has referred to having a bench. This is something she could apply for and the Council would consider her request. It would have to consider issues such as whether there is space for a bench. This would, however, be something that Ms X would have to pay for.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because the Council has offered a fair remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman