Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a missing headstone. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is no evidence the Council is at fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Ms X says the headstone on her parent’s grave was lost when her late father’s grave was reopened for her mother’s burial. She wants the Council to replace it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. The Council confirms headstones are always removed by the funeral director and it is the funeral director’s responsibility to replace them. The Council also confirms it has searched the cemetery in case the funeral director placed it elsewhere, but it has not been found.
6. We will not investigate X’s complaint because the Council did not remove the headstone and is not responsible for replacing it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman