Public health burials - disclosure log

Public Health Funerals carried out by Caerphilly County Borough Council during the period 1 January 2010 to 20 May 2022.

Name	Passed to Treasury Solicitor?
Lyndon Oats	No
Cyril Roberts	No
Peter Rundle	No
Karl Wayne Smith	No
Margaret Quinn	No
Vivian Colbeck	No
Terrance Davies	No
Selwyn Watkins	No
John Stuart	No
Courtney James Hamilton	No
David Williams	No
Terrance Austin Stockton	No
Ian Thomas Jenkins	No
David Preston	No
John Glyn Jones	No
Colin Jones	No
Phillip James Davies	No
Ann Holtham	No
David Glyn Jones	No
Andrea Jones	No
Lynford Evans	No
Gwendoline Mary Kellow	No
Brian Bird	No
Brian Arwyn Smith	No
Anthony Reginal Eddy	No
Geofrey Colbert	No
Daniel Irvine	No
William Peter Kerby	No
Roger Williams	No
Leslie Davies	No
Nigel Kerri Everson	No
Emerson Narbed	No
Ronald Mervyn Cripps	No
Michael Anthony Davies	No
Michael Stephen Coghlan	No
Mrs Dragisa Knezenvic	Yes (8/12/2011)
David Mansell Roberts	No
Peter Cole	Yes (14/7/2011)
Margot Petronella Hutchins	Yes (5/2011)
Lester Henry Jones	No
Leonard Anderson	Yes (15/6/2010)
Jeffrey Streets	Yes (25/3/2010)
Peter Nicholls	No
Margaret Rose Simmonds	No
Esme Matilda Grace Jones	No
Raymond Stanley	No
David William Phillips	No
Martha Elizabeth Ann Humphries	No
Cora Sylvia Hardacre	No
Evan Edward Tasker	No
Rodney Glen Peplar	No
Colin Thomas	Yes (3/7/2015)
Adrian James	No
Maldwyn Selway	No (06/07/17)
Sandra Weeks	No
Ronald William Tippins	No
Michael Eric Albert Fox	No
George Stephen Thomas	No

Before any information is put in to the public domain i.e. made accessible to everyone, we have to consider if disclosure is in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

Information about the last known address of a deceased person, their date of birth, value of estate, etc. will not be disclosed as this information is considered exempt from disclosure under S.31 (1) (a) (Law Enforcement) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This section of the Act sets out an exemption from the right to know, if the release of the information would or would likely prejudice (harm) the prevention or detection of crime. 

When a person dies intestate with no known next of kin, the assets of their estate are at risk until they have been properly identified and secured e.g. freezing bank accounts, locating title deeds, etc. Furthermore, a property may be left unoccupied, and disclosure of this information would leave it vulnerable to squatting and the stripping of any fixtures and fittings.  Therefore, putting details of the date of birth, last known address, value of estate, etc. into the public domain, making it available to all, could prejudice the prevention of crime as it would provide the opportunity for criminal acts of theft or fraud.

It is recognised that there is a public interest argument in favour of the disclosure of this information, in that it could assist in the identification of relatives of the deceased who may be entitled to the estate left by the deceased.

 
However, there are a number of public interest arguments in favour of withholding this information, which would include
 

• The likely prejudice to the prevention of crime.
• Identity fraud
• The avoidance of damage to property.
• The potential indirect impact on the neighbouring properties should crimes be perpetrated on empty properties.
• The impact of crime on the owners of empty properties should relatives of the deceased be traced

The last two arguments in favour of the withholding of this information relate to preventing crime against individuals.  There is an extremely strong public interest in the prevention of crime against an individual and it is consider that the public interest is greater in the withholding of the information.
 
Therefore, the name of the deceased and the date that it was referred to the Treasury Solicitor will be disclosed, but all other information is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act for the reasons above.