Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council carrying out non-essential work outside the complainant’s house on the day of their late mother’s funeral. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr B, complains the Council carried out non-essential highway work outside his home on the day of his mother’s funeral.
2. He says this added to his distress on the day and wants financial compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr B says on the day of his mother’s funeral, Council workers arrived to install a dropped kerb in front of Mr B’s neighbour’s home.
7. Mr B says he asked the Council to postpone the work, but they refused. He and other mourners had to walk through the dug-up pavement to get to the hearse. On returning after the funeral the hearse could not park directly outside and had to reverse back up the road as it could not pass the Council vehicles.
8. The Council says its highway team was not previously aware of the funeral. When they became aware they continued to work until the funeral cars arrived. Work stopped while the cars were outside the house. It recommenced once the cortege had left.
9. Highway workers continued to work when the cortege returned and finished the job soon after. The Council says there was nothing to stop the hearse from parking outside Mr B’s home. However, the driver chose to pull up outside the next-door property to leave space for passing cars.
10. The Council says if it had known about the funeral they would have rescheduled the work. But they did not. Work stopped when the hearse was present which is the Council’s protocol.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify an investigation. There is no requirement for highway work to stop because of funerals.
12. The Council has apologised to Mr B for the distress caused. And it has reminded highway workers of the protocol to be followed in such circumstances.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman