Dorset Council (19 009 792)

Category : Other Categories > Other

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 04 Feb 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: There was no fault by the Council, in this complaint about the costs of a funeral. For this reason, the Ombudsman has completed his investigation.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, to whom I will refer as Mr P, says the Council misled him about the possibility of financial assistance with the costs of his half-brother’s funeral.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I reviewed the correspondence between Mr P and the Council, the information on the Council’s website about public health funerals, and information on the gov.uk website about Government contributions to funeral costs.
  2. I also shared a draft copy of this decision with each party for their comments.

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What I found

  1. Mr P had a half-brother, Mr C, who was disabled and lived in a care home. On 18 May 2019, Mr C passed away.
  2. On 20 May, Mr P contacted the Council’s financial services department and spoke to an officer, to whom I will refer as Mr K. Mr P notified Mr K of Mr C’s death. Mr K said he would send Mr P an asset form to complete and return, which Mr P did on 26 May.
  3. Mr P says he also mentioned to Mr K, during this call, there were insufficient funds in Mr C’s estate to pay for his funeral, and that he could also not afford to pay himself. Mr P says Mr K advised him to make arrangements for the funeral anyway, and that the Council may be able to assist him with the costs.
  4. Shortly after this Mr K sent Mr P an email. He confirmed Mr C’s account had now been “set to zero”. He suggested Mr P contact the Council to see if he could obtain help with Mr C’s funeral costs.
  5. Mr C’s funeral took place on 3 June. On 10 June, Mr P received the invoice from the funeral director, which was for approximately £3500, which he duly paid.
  6. Mr C then had an exchange of emails with an officer in the Council’s Environmental Health department (the dates are not recorded on the copy of the exchange provided to the Ombudsman by Mr P). I will refer to this officer as Mr D.
  7. Mr D informed Mr P that, as he had now paid for Mr C’s funeral, the Council could no longer assist him with the costs. Mr D provided a link to the gov.uk website, which explained a claim for funeral costs can by made to the Government under some circumstances.
  8. Mr P replied to Mr D, relating his initial conversation with Mr K, and saying he had been told to go ahead and make arrangements. Mr P said he had done this in good faith, believing there was financial support available from the Council. Mr P complained he had had to borrow money to pay for the funeral.
  9. Mr D replied to say there was no-one by Mr K’s name working in the Environmental Health department, and there were no asset forms of the type described by Mr D in use by Environmental Health. Mr D also questioned a discrepancy in the dates mentioned by Mr P.
  10. Mr P responded to confirm the date discrepancy was a typing error. He provided a copy of Mr K’s email to him, and complained the Council’s departments were uncoordinated.
  11. On 2 August, Mr P submitted a formal complaint to the Council.
  12. The Council replied on 14 August. It explained Mr K’s advice to him, about seeking assistance from the Council, was intended as a matter of courtesy. However, Mr K did not work in the Environmental Health department, and the assets form he had provided had nothing to do with Mr C’s funeral costs. It apologised for any confusion.
  13. After some further correspondence, the Council sent another response to Mr P on 3 September. It explained Mr K’s involvement was only related to an outstanding balance on Mr C’s care fees. It acknowledged Mr K had suggested Mr P may be able to obtain assistance with Mr C’s funeral costs, but highlighted he had not guaranteed this was available.
  14. The Council explained it was possible to claim assistance from the Government for funeral costs, including making a back-dated claim, but could not say whether this would be successful.
  15. Mr P referred his complaint to the Ombudsman on 11 September.

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Legislative background

Public health funerals

  1. The Council’s website includes information about public health funerals. It says:

We have a responsibility under Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 to make arrangements and pay for Public Health Funerals in certain circumstances:

  • when someone dies without making a will and appointing an executor, and
  • when the council does not think there are any relatives or friends willing or able to make the funeral arrangements

The cost of the funeral is normally paid for using funds from the deceased person's estate (the belongings owned by that person). The council will only arrange and pay for a funeral if no one else is willing to do so.

Funeral expenses payments

  1. The gov.uk explains the Government can help with funeral costs under certain circumstances. To qualify, the applicant must have a certain relationship with the deceased (such as being their partner or close relative), and be in receipt of certain benefits. A claim for assistance can be made up to six months after the funeral.

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Analysis

  1. Mr P considers the Council led him to believe he may qualify for some assistance in Mr C’s funeral costs, and he arranged and paid for the funeral in good faith. It was only later he discovered the Council would not now contribute to the costs.
  2. The Council’s responsibility for paying funeral costs is only in relation to public health funerals (historically known as a “pauper’s funeral”). These are for when a person dies, with no means to pay for their own funeral, and local authorities are unable to identify any next of kin who can or will do so instead. A public health funeral is usually a very basic ceremony, with the deceased often buried in a common grave with no marker.
  3. From my understanding, this was not what Mr P sought for Mr C. He instead wished to make a claim for assistance with costs, which is a facility provided by the Government, not the Council.
  4. Mr P considers he was misled by Mr K into believing he could make a claim for costs to the Council. The Council has confirmed it has no recording of their initial call, so I cannot make an objective finding on this.
  5. In either case, however, public health funerals are a matter for the Council’s Environmental Health department. I would not expect a person working in the Financial Services department, like Mr K, to have any specialist knowledge about this. In hindsight, it may have been better if Mr K had simply not tried to give Mr P any advice at all – but I would not criticise him for trying to be helpful, nor consider this fault.
  6. Further to this, it does not appear likely there would have been a different outcome here, even if there had been no confusion. As I understand it, public health funerals are intended as something of a ‘last resort’ – where the only alternative is no funeral at all. I accept Mr P may have found it difficult to pay for Mr C’s funeral, but this does not mean the Council would have funded a public health funeral instead.
  7. In addition, Mr P has confirmed he researched making a back-dated claim for assistance from the Government, but he does not meet the eligibility criteria.
  8. For this reason, even if I had found fault with the Council here (which I have not), I would not be able to say it had caused Mr P an injustice.
  9. I am, however, critical of Mr D’s comments in his email to Mr P, as described at paragraph 13.
  10. It is apparent Mr P believed Mr K was known to Mr D, when in fact they worked in unrelated parts of the Council. This was Mr P’s misunderstanding – but I do find Mr D’s response unnecessarily confrontational and accusatory. This was clearly a sensitive time for Mr P, and under the circumstances Mr D’s tone was uncalled-for.
  11. The Ombudsman can only investigate and make recommendations against the Council as a corporate body. He does not have the power to recommend action be taken against any individual member of staff, and I do not consider I can fairly find fault by the Council for Mr D’s comments.
  12. But I would ask the Council to take note of my criticism here.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation with a finding of no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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