Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about his late mother’s funeral. This is because it is unlikely investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has not accepted that fault on its part was responsible for the events of his late mother’s funeral. He further complains about the Council’s response to his subsequent complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. The complainant has had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered his comments and the further evidence he provided.

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My assessment

6. Mr B says the Council failed to ensure his late mother’s grave was large enough to accommodate her coffin. He says the Council and funeral director are both to blame for this distressing event but that the Council is attempting to deflect the blame away from itself.
7. Mr B complains that the Council has decided, on the balance of probabilities, that the fault lay with the funeral directors for providing the wrong measurements. He wants it to accept part of the blame and apologise to him in person, rather than by letter.
8. We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would achieve anything significant by doing so. It is unlikely further investigation would reach a different conclusion.
9. Mr B has provided a statement from the funeral director, in which it blames the Council for the matter. That demonstrates that there is a conflict of evidence but does not show the Council was at fault. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would be able to resolve this conflict. Without evidence of fault on the Council’s part, there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to intervene.
10. The Council is not at fault in deciding the matter on the balance of probabilities. This is the same test the Ombudsman applies and only a court could apply a higher test.
11. Mr B says the Council took too long to respond to his complaint and initially failed to share the result of its investigation. We will not consider this matter. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. That is the case here.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely further investigation 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