Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about incorrect information entered on her father’s death certificate. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says her father’s death was registered by someone who did not have the authority to do so. Incorrect information was registered which means the death certificate is now wrong. Mrs X wants the Council to pay for it to be amended.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mrs X’s father (Mr Y) passed away in 2020. Mrs X says she tried to book an appointment to register Mr Y’s death, but she was unable to do so because of a problem with the Council’s system. By the following week Mr Y’s death had still not been registered and so Mrs X booked an appointment to do this. Mrs X says the Council did not contact her on the day of the appointment. Mrs X contacted the Council and discovered the death had already been registered – but there were mistakes in the details recorded. Mrs X then received a copy of Mr Y’s death certificate. There were mistakes with Mr Y’s middle name and place of birth. Mrs X says the Council allowed her father’s death to be registered by someone who did not have the authority to do so. Mrs X wants the death certificate corrected and is unhappy the Council will not cover the costs.
5. The Council has responded to complaints from Mrs X. In its responses it said that:
• It did not dispute that Mrs X had initially tried to make an appointment to register Mr Y’s death. But calls to its contact centre are not recorded and no staff were able to remember the conversation. The Council could not therefore reach an “evidence-based conclusion”.
• A relative of Mr Y’s partner (Mr B) called the Council on 08 October 2020 to register Mr Y’s death. An appointment was made for 15 October.
• Mrs X called the Council on 12 October to also register Mr Y’s death – her appointment was after Mr B’s.
• The Council’s system cannot identify when more than one person has booked to register the same death.
• The Council noticed there were two appointments on 14 October when registrars checked the paperwork for the following day.
• The Council’s system shows a registrar called Mrs X on 15 October to tell her the death had already been registered and so her appointment could not go ahead. Mrs X says she did not receive the voicemail the officer said they left - which the Council could not explain. It accepts it should have also emailed Mrs X and apologised for this.
• The registrar was told by Mr B they were arranging Mr Y’s funeral and they were therefore ‘qualified’ to register the death. There is no requirement on a registrar to check this. But the funeral directors had confirmed to the Council Mr B was instructing them. Mr Y’s death was therefore registered by a ‘qualified informant’.
• The Council recognised the distress caused by the errors on the death certificate. But it could not find any fault in how its officers had acted. If Mrs X wanted the death certificate revised, she would need to apply to the General Register Office and pay the £90 correction fee – plus £11 for a replacement certificate.

Assessment

6. I understand how distressing it must have been for Mrs X to receive a copy of her father’s death certificate which contained mistakes. But for the Ombudsman to become involved we would need to be satisfied the Council was at fault, and that its actions led to the issue at the heart of Mrs X’s complaint.
7. It is unfortunate the Council’s system does not identify when more than one person has an appointment to register a death. But even if it did, it seems the outcome would have been the same. I say this because if the system did work this way, when Mrs X tried to make an appointment, she would have been told Mr B had already booked a time to register the death. The Council would have not then made an appointment for Mrs X – but there is no reason to think this would have changed the information Mr B provided when he registered Mr Y’s death.
8. As the Council has explained, Mr B said he was arranging Mr Y’s funeral and there was no requirement for the Council to check this. The Council was required to register the death using the information provided, and it was this incorrect information which led to the issue at the heart of Mrs X’s complaint.
9. Based on the information I have seen, there is not therefore enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman