FOI Request 10.07.2026
Case reference FOI2026/00714
Received 10 July 2026
Published 6 August 2026
Request
Response
In accordance with section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds some information falling within the scope of your request.
Oxford City Council has considered the information held when your request was received on 10 July 2026. On the basis of the dates of death recorded by OCC, four cases fall within the specified period. OCC does not hold marital status information for those cases nor does it hold maiden surname information for those cases. OCC does not hold an estimated estate value for any of the cases identified. None of the four cases was referred to the Government Legal Department, the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall. Two cases were referred to Estate Research on 15 July 2026 for next-of-kin enquiries, and one case was referred to Finders on 12 May 2026, for next-of-kin enquiries. No referral was made in the remaining case. OCC’s record states that a funeral plan was in place and that the estate was unlikely to contain funds.
This information is provided in aggregate form. OCC has not disclosed the connection between a particular referral outcome and the identifying information relating to an individual case.
OCC has withheld the following information under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA:
the full names of the deceased persons;
their dates of birth or ages at death;
their dates of death;
their last known addresses; and
the case-specific connection between an individual and the referral information held.
Section 31(1)(a) applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Disclosure under the FOIA is disclosure to the public generally and not solely to the person making the request. The identity or purpose of the requester does not restrict the subsequent use or publication of information disclosed under the FOIA.
The requested information would provide a ready-collated list identifying people who had recently died, their dates of birth and death, their last known residential addresses, the absence or possible absence of known next of kin and the status of enquiries concerning their estates.
Disclosure of names, dates of birth and dates of death would be likely to facilitate the misuse of deceased persons’ identities. Disclosure of last known addresses, when combined with confirmation that the resident has died and that no next of kin has been identified, would also be likely to identify properties or estates that may be unoccupied or insufficiently secured.
Disclosure of the information would be likely to facilitate identity fraud, probate fraud, false claims against an estate, theft of estate assets, burglary, unlawful entry or other criminal interference with property.
The risk arises from the combination and ready-collated nature of the information. Although individual facts such as a death may be obtainable from other sources, those sources do not necessarily confirm that the death resulted in a public health funeral, that no next of kin had been identified, or that enquiries concerning the estate had been initiated.
The Information Commissioner has considered materially similar requests on a number of occasions and has accepted the application of section 31(1)(a) to identifying and case-linked information concerning public health funerals and estates. In decision IC-265771-J7C4, issued on 26 January 2024, the Commissioner recorded that section 31 had also been upheld in six earlier published decisions concerning comparable public health funeral information.
OCC considers that there is a direct and causal relationship between disclosure of the withheld information and the prejudice identified. The risk is real and significant and is more than a remote or hypothetical possibility.
Section 31(1)(a) is a qualified exemption. OCC has therefore considered whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
OCC recognises the public interest in transparency concerning the exercise of its public health funeral functions, the steps taken to trace relatives, the referral of estates and the proper use of public funds. Disclosure might also assist a person who believes that they may be related to a deceased individual.
Against disclosure, there is a strong public interest in preventing crime, protecting vulnerable or unadministered estates and safeguarding property and assets from theft, fraud and unlawful interference. There is also a public interest in allowing next-of-kin enquiries and estate administration to proceed without increasing the risk of false or competing claims.
OCC has disclosed the number of cases and the aggregate referral information and has confirmed that it does not hold estimated estate values for the cases identified. OCC also publishes general information and older case information concerning its public health funeral functions. These disclosures provide transparency without releasing the identifying information that gives rise to the crime risk.
On balance, OCC considers that the public interest in preventing crime and protecting estates and property outweighs the public interest in disclosing the withheld case-specific information.
OCC publishes a public health burial and cremation webpage and a downloadable dataset available through the link below:
Public health burials and cremations | Oxford City Council
The webpage describes the dataset as covering 2013 to the present. However, the downloadable case data itself states that it was last updated in January 2023. It is therefore not up to date for the period covered by this request.
Information concerning estates that have been accepted and published by the Government Legal Department is available through the Government’s unclaimed estates list. None of the four cases identified above had been referred to the Government Legal Department at the date of this response. The Government Legal Department publishes and updates the unclaimed estates list separately.
In accordance with section 17 of the FOIA, this response constitutes a refusal notice in respect of the information withheld under section 31(1)(a).
In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, which relates to the duty to provide reasonable advice and assistance, OCC has provided the non-identifying recorded information it holds, has explained the scope and limitations of its published information and has identified where information about estates accepted by the Government Legal Department may be found.
This response provides OCC’s recorded position in relation to the matters raised, together with appropriate advice and signposting.
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either email monitoringofficer@oxford.gov.uk – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
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