The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of sensitive information and its data gathering techniques. We will not investigate the complaint because the Council addressed his complaint in the way he had asked and if he has concerns about a data breach, the Information Commissioner is the body best placed to address them.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about matters relating to sensitive information he provided to the Council and its handling of it. He says its unsecured handling of the information has left him feeling anxious and frightened of repercussions from those the information concerned.
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 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 an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner 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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.
My assessment
Mr X contacted the Council concerning information he had provided in relation to anti-social behaviour in his area. He asked the Council six specific questions to which he said he wanted a “yes” or “no” answer. The Council replied to his questions in the format requested.
Mr X complained at Stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure as he was not satisfied with its response. The Council said it had responded in the way Mr X had requested and went again through the six questions providing some additional information.
Mr X’s contact with the Council was very specific in that he asked for yes/no answers to his questions. The Council provided this. If Mr X believes there has been a data breach we would reasonably expect him to contact the Information Commissioner, the body best placed to consider such claims.
Mr X has referred to other issues in his complaint to us. If he wants to pursue them he would first need to raise them as a formal complaint with the Council before we would look at them.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council addressed Mr X’s complaint in the way he had asked and if he has concerns about a data breach, the Information Commissioner is the body best placed to address them.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman