The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not sending the complainant a letter confirming its Children’s Services team had closed a case involving his family. This is because the Council has confirmed when the case was closed. We could not achieve anything more. The complainant’s concerns about the Council’s responses to his requests for information are best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained the Council had not sent a formal letter confirming its Children’s Services team had closed a case involving his family. Mr X also raised concerns about how the Council had dealt with his requests for information.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained because he says the Council has not issued a letter confirming its Children’s Services team is no longer involved with his family. He says it has not issued a ‘case closure’ letter. Mr X also has concerns about responses to Subject Access Requests and if the Council has sent all the information it has.
The Council’s Head of Safeguarding has emailed Mr X. It has said there is no case closure letter on his family’s file. They explained why the case had remained open, but also when it was closed.
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council has confirmed the case is closed and said when this happened. We could not add anything to this response.
If Mr X has concerns about how his requests for information have been responded to, or information held by the Council, he should contact the ICO. It is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. This includes not disclosing information somebody is entitled to or holding incorrect information.
There is no charge for making a complaint to the ICO, and its complaints procedure is relatively easy to use. The ICO is in a better position than the Ombudsman to consider Mr X’s concerns about access to information and data held by the Council. Mr X should therefore approach the ICO about this part of his complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response. Concerns about requests for information are best considered by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman