Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council responded after the complainant reported that her child’s grave is being vandalised. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about the Council’s response after she reported that her child’s grave is being vandalised. Ms X wants the Council to care about the situation and install CCTV.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Ms X reported to the Council that her child’s grave is being vandalised. The Council apologised for her distress and asked her to report each incident to the police. The Council told Ms X it has asked staff to look out for any suspicious activity and it had liaised with the police. It said it had asked police support officers to patrol the area and its own security staff have been asked to be vigilant when locking up and to report any anti-social behaviour. The Council said it has limited CCTV in the car park but it does not have the resources to extend the CCTV coverage or to provide constant monitoring of the site. It explained that items left on a grave are susceptible to theft or damage which is why it recommends that relatives only have a memorial stone.
5. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The acts of vandalism are distressing for Ms X and completely unacceptable. But, there is nothing to suggest fault in the Council’s response and it is hard to know what more it could do. I appreciate Ms X would like the Council to extend the CCTV but the Council has explained it does not have the resources and, in any case, there might be privacy issues as some people might not want to be filmed while paying their respects at the graveside.

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Final decision

6. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman