Freedom Of Information Request - details of anyone who has passed away with no known next of kin
Case reference FOI2026/00665
Received 2 July 2026
Published 30 July 2026
Request
Response
Freedom of Information Team
Oxford City Council
Email: freedomofinformation@oxford.gov.uk
30 July 2026
Dear Harriet Edwards
Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: FOI2026/00665
Further to our acknowledgement, we can confirm that Oxford City Council can advise as follows in response to your Freedom of Information Request received on 2 July:
Request
I am writing to you under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act.
I would like to know the details of anyone who has passed away with no known next of kin from 1/1/2026 to the date of your reply. If there are any new cases where the person died prior to 1/1/2026, but that were dealt with after this date, please also include details.
This should include deaths of any clients whose affairs are managed by the Councils Safeguarding or Deputy-ship Teams, where applicable. Please also supply a list of any Public Health Act Funerals carried out from the above date (also known as Welfare or Environmental Health Act funerals) if this does not form part of your reply to the above. This should include funerals carried out by the council or on behalf of any third party. If this information is now provided on your website, please send the hyperlink.
Please include as much of the following information as you are able to:
1. The deceased's full name
2. The date they died
3. The approximate value of their estate
4. Their date and place of birth or age at death
5. Whether or not they were married, divorced, single, or widowed
6. The maiden surnames of married females or widows
7. Their address at time of death
8. The date a referral was made of this estate to any other 3rd party or body to research or administer and the name of the 3rd party concerned.
9. If a referral to a 3rd party or body has not yet been made could you advise of the case details as above too.
10. If a case referral to a 3rd party or body is still undecided or awaiting referral, please also advise of details of the deceased.
I look forward to your response,
Kind regards,
Harriet Edwards
Client Care Assistant
E: harriet@blanchardsinheritance.co.uk<mailto:harriet@blanchardsinheritance.co.uk>
T: +44(0)1843 808323
Blanchards Inheritance
34 The Oaks, Manston Business Park, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 5FN
www.blanchardsltd.co.uk<http://www.blanchardsinheritance.co.uk/>
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BLANCHARDS INHERITANCE LTD registered in England and Wales company number 11696757.
If you are not the addressee, please inform us immediately that you have received this email by mistake and delete it. Thank you for your cooperation.
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. However, after careful consideration, OCC is unable to disclose the requested case-level information.
Your request seeks information about deceased individuals with no known next of kin, including their names, dates of death, dates and places of birth, ages, marital status, former surnames, addresses, estimated estate values and details of referrals to third parties. It also seeks equivalent information concerning public health funerals arranged under section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.
OCC considers that the requested information is exempt from disclosure under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA because disclosure would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
Disclosure under the FOIA is disclosure to the public generally, rather than solely to the person making the request. Publishing the requested information could identify recently unoccupied properties and unresolved estates. This could increase the risk of burglary, unlawful occupation, vandalism, theft of personal possessions, interception of correspondence, identity fraud, fraudulent claims against estates and other financial crime.
The risk is particularly significant where enquiries to locate next of kin remain ongoing, an estate has not yet been referred to another body, a property remains unoccupied or the administration of the estate has not been concluded. Disclosure could also undermine OCC’s ability to safeguard property, personal possessions and estate assets while those matters are being resolved.
The Information Commissioner has previously accepted that section 31(1)(a) may apply to information concerning people who have received public health funerals where its disclosure could expose unoccupied properties and estates to fraud or other criminal activity.
Section 31(1)(a) is a qualified exemption. OCC has therefore considered the public interest test.
OCC recognises the public interest in openness concerning the performance of its statutory functions, the use of public funds and the arrangements made for people who die without known relatives. There may also be a public interest in enabling entitled relatives to identify and claim an estate.
However, these considerations are outweighed by the strong public interest in preventing crime, protecting unoccupied properties and unresolved estates, safeguarding personal possessions and ensuring that enquiries into next of kin and estate administration are not compromised. OCC has therefore concluded that the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.
Information relating solely to a deceased person is not personal data for the purposes of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). However, some of the requested information may also identify living individuals, including relatives, potential beneficiaries, executors, deputies, informants or other people associated with an estate.
Where disclosure would identify a living individual and would be unfair or unlawful, that information is additionally exempt under section 40(2), read together with section 40(3A)(a), of the FOIA. Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption where the statutory conditions are satisfied and is not subject to the public interest test.
OCC has considered whether the requested information could be disclosed with individual details removed. However, the request seeks recent, case-specific information and a combination of details that could be cross-referenced with other publicly available information. OCC does not consider that disclosing the requested case-level information in part would adequately remove the identified risks.
In accordance with section 17 of the FOIA, this letter constitutes a refusal notice in respect of the information withheld under sections 31(1)(a).
In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, OCC advises that, where an estate has been referred as bona vacantia, limited information may be published by the Bona Vacantia Division of the Government Legal Department on its Unclaimed Estates List:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimed-estates-list.
The list contains estates that have been referred to the Bona Vacantia Division and remain unclaimed. It will not necessarily include every person who received a public health funeral or every case held by OCC.
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 |
Documents
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