Northumberland County Council (21 003 085)

Category : Environment and regulation > Cemeteries and crematoria

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 15 Jul 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the management of a burial plot. We are satisfied with the Council’s actions to resolve the complaint. Further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, I will call Mr X, complains the Council allowed an oversized headstone on the next plot, which overshadowed his late wife’s burial plot.
  2. He says the Council took more than six months to resolve the matter which was distressing for him and his family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
  • we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation
  • further investigation would not lead to a different outcome

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

  1. We will not investigate a complaint if the Council has already provided a reasonable remedy

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. In September 2020, Mr X complained to the Council that an overlarge headstone had been placed on the plot next to his late wife’s grave. He said this was encroaching on his wife’s plot, overshadowing it.
  2. The Council says it tried to resolve the matter informally, making suggestions on how it could resolve the matter. Mr X says these suggestions all included making changes to his late wife’s plot, rather than dealing with the oversized headstone on the next plot.
  3. In February 2021, Mr X told the Council he would not accept anything less than replacing the headstone on the next plot as a way of resolving his complaint. He also said he intended to approach the Ombudsman.
  4. The Council advised Mr X it had been trying to resolve the matter informally but logged his concern as a formal complaint.
  5. Its final response was sent to Mr X in April. The Council says it tried to resolve the matter without involving and upsetting the family of the person in the next plot. However, it has contacted the family and the headstone will be replaced with a smaller memorial.
  6. The Council recognises the distress this matter has caused to Mr X and his family. It apologised for the time taken to resolve the matter, stressing its informal approach was intended to resolve the matter in as compassionate a way as possible.
  7. Replacing the headstone is the outcome Mr X wanted. But he is not satisfied with the apology and wants compensation for the distress. However, I do not consider such injustice can be remedied by a payment.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. We are satisfied with the Council’s actions. It has agreed to replace the headstone on the plot next to Mr X’s late wife’s grave. It has also apologised for the time taken to resolve the matter. It is unlikely that further investigation would add to that carried out by the Council; or that it would lead to a different outcome.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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