FOI request details

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Request

Subject: No next of kin

Reference: WBC-FOI-00915

Please could you kindly send me any information you may hold relating to persons who are/were known to the Council via any of the following teams and who have died with:

- no known next of kin (defined as blood relatives) OR

- where you have been unable to engage with or locate any KNOWN next of kin,

Please provide details of cases that have occurred or come to your attention since 1/1/23 to the day of your reply or as close as possible. Please provide as much of the following information as you can:

1. full names of deceased persons,

2. dates of death,

3. marital status,

4. maiden surnames of married or widowed females,

5. dates of birth or ages at death,

6. last known addresses,

7. estimated value of estates,

8. date(s) when the information was passed (or information that is about to be or likely to be passed) to the Government Legal Department (formerly Treasury Solicitor) or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall or any other 3rd party, or, confirmation that this will not be happening and the reason why.

Response

Part Disclosed - 3 March 2023

Request for Information - WBC-FOI-00915 - No next of kin

I refer to your request for information received on 02 March 2023. Please see the information below and attached in response to your request: -

Your Request:

Please could you kindly send me any information you may hold relating to persons who are/were known to the Council via any of the following teams and who have died with:

- no known next of kin (defined as blood relatives) OR

- where you have been unable to engage with or locate any KNOWN next of kin,

Please provide details of cases that have occurred or come to your attention since 1/1/23 to the day of your reply or as close as possible. Please provide as much of the following information as you can:

1. full names of deceased persons,

2. dates of death,

3. marital status,

4. maiden surnames of married or widowed females,

5. dates of birth or ages at death,

6. last known addresses,

7. estimated value of estates,

8. date(s) when the information was passed (or information that is about to be or likely to be passed) to the Government Legal Department (formerly Treasury Solicitor) or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall or any other 3rd party, or, confirmation that this will not be happening and the reason why.

Our Response:

Please see the attached spreadsheet for details of public health funerals carried out from 01/01/2016 - 31/12/2022.

Please note that revealing details of the assets of an estate before the Treasury Solicitor has undertaken their own enquiries would provide an opportunity for criminal acts to be committed (for example, theft or fraud). Similarly, there would be concerns about making the last known address of the deceased public, as the property is likely to be unoccupied and might still contain the deceased's personal papers and effects. There is also a continuing risk after the estate has been secured of, for example, identity theft. Taking into account the above issues, the Council considers that there is no over-riding public interest in releasing the information requested. Any public interest would be best served by upholding the exemption under Section 31 - Law Enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as disclosure of the information would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime by enabling or encouraging the commission of offences.

Please also note this information is updated periodically. The next update for public health funerals / next of kin is due by December 2023. As such the Council is not obliged to provide further information before this date as it is exempt under S22 - Information intended for future publication of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I hope this information meets your needs. If you do not understand the information provided or wish to discuss anything further, please feel free to contact us.

Please note, all material provided by the Council in response to your request for information is for your personal, non-commercial use. The Council reserves all rights in the copyright of the information provided. Any unauthorised copying or adaptation of the information without express written confirmation from The Council may constitute an infringement of copyright. Any intention to re-use this information commercially may require consent. Please forward any requests for re-use of information to the FOI officer.

If you are dissatisfied with the information provided in relation to your request, you may make representations to the Information and Transparency Manager. Any such request for an internal review should be made within 40 days from today's date. Correspondence should be addressed to: FOIW@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision at: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Regards,

FOI and DPA Officer

FOIW@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Attachments

This response includes the following files:

Please note that our responses were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of release, and have not subsequently been updated. This information should be considered an historical record only.