Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (23 016 549)
Category : Environment and regulation > Cemeteries and crematoria
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Apr 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to take action regarding grave sites which do not comply with the Council’s guidelines. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions and the personal injustice to Mr X is minimal.
The complaint
- Mr X complained that there are graves in the cemetery he visits that feature fencing which is not in line with the Council’s guidelines.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council that two graves in the cemetery he visits regularly contain fencing that was unsightly and not in line with the Council’s guidelines.
- The Council investigated and found that one of the graves was not exceeding the permitted boundaries. The Council confirmed it had contacted the owner of the other grave to discuss fixing the feature that was not permitted but would not give further details.
- Mr X remains unhappy with the situation and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Council has investigated the gravesites in question and found only one which was not in line with its guidelines. The Council has taken action to address this and there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has responded to this issue. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions. In addition, there is no significant personal injustice to Mr X due to this matter.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions and the personal injustice to Mr X is minimal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman