Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s burial charges. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council’s burial charges are too high and are not justified by the work required. He believes the Council has raised its fees to fill a hole in its budget without considering its duty of care to residents.

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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 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complains about the fee the Council applied for his wife’s burial in a plot he purchased in 1977 when his son was buried there. He says the Council’s current fee of over £1000 is too high and not justified. He believes the Council is applying high charges to cover deficits in its budget and is not charging solely to recover its costs.
7. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council explained its cemetery fees have gradually increased over time, largely in line with inflation. It said its fees are benchmarked against other local authorities’ fees. Its setting of fees follows a democratic process prior to the start of each financial year where they are formally agreed by elected Councillors as part of the annual review of its cemetery and crematorium fees and charges.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council here. It has explained the process by which the fees are agreed and set annually and why they apply. This is a matter the Council is entitled to decide.
9. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a council’s decision to decide if it was right or wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation has followed to make its decision. If, as here, we consider there is no sign of fault in the way the decision was reached we cannot question it even though Mr X disagrees with it. The Council has explained the process via which the fees are set each year and it has charged Mr X in line with this. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council here to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman