Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of the registration of her relative’s death. It is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council allowed a person who was not a relative to register her mother’s death. This caused distress and meant Ms X was denied the opportunity to organise her mother’s funeral. The Council has upheld her complaint, apologised for the distress caused and acted to improve its procedures. Ms X wants the Council to ensure it does not happen to anyone else.

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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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response, the Council accepted it should not have relied on the person’s account and should have done more to clarify information they provided with Ms X, before it allowed the person to register her mother’s death in Ms X’s place. It apologised to her for what had happened and for the distress caused.
6. It told her what action it had taken to prevent the situation happening again. This included changes to its procedures and sharing the learning with all its registrars. It also held a management meeting to discuss her complaint and to establish if any further changes were needed.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has upheld her complaint and acted to change its procedures to prevent the situation happening again. Although I accept the situation has caused Ms X considerable distress, it is unlikely an investigation by us could achieve anything more or would lead to a different outcome.
8. Once the death certificate is issued, any dispute about who arranges a funeral is a private matter, which can only be resolved through the courts. Ms X sought legal advice about whether to challenge the person’s authority to make the funeral arrangements, but decided not to proceed with legal action. Although I understand Ms X’s reasons, this was Ms X’s decision to make, and we would not hold the Council accountable for this.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman