The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about data breaches. Another body is better placed than us to consider these matters. Even if that were not so, both matters are late, and there would be no good reason to exercise discretion to consider either matter. And we could not investigate one alleged breach even if neither previous impediment applied as it concerns the actions of a school.
The complaint
Miss X said the Council breached her data. She says a school wrongly demanded in 2021 to know where her child would be educated before removing them from the school roll. She said the Council also wrongly shared data with another primary school.
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)) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The correspondence Miss X supplied shows the complaint concerns two alleged data breaches in the first part of 2021. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is better placed than us to consider alleged data breaches. It has power to decide if there has been a breach and can impose penalties against an organisation where it finds a breach. Both matters are also late complaints, and one of them concerns the actions of a school. That matter does not concern the delivery in a school of special educational needs provision specified in an Education Health and Care Plan, which is the only exception to the bar placed on us investigating internal school matters.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because both elements of it concern alleged data breaches. The ICO is better placed than us to consider any possible breaches.
Even if that were not so, the complaint about both matters is also late. There would be no good reason to exercise discretion to consider them now.
Finally, the complaint about the actions of a school is one we could not investigate as there is a bar in the Local Government Act 1974 against us investigating internal school matters that would prevent us from doing so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman