The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a Freedom of Information request. This is because the Information Commissioners Office is better placed to investigate.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council dealt with his Freedom of Information request.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) considers complaints about freedom of information and is therefore better placed to investigate Mr X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO are better placed to investigate it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman