The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council failing to respond to information requests. The Information Commissioners Office is better placed to deal with the complaint.
The complaint
Mrs X complained that since a previous complaint to the Ombudsman, the Council has not responded to her information requests.
Mrs X says this has caused her distress and she has had to leave her job.
Mrs X wants the Council employees not to abuse their power over residents.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained about how the Council dealt with her freedom of information and subject access requests.
We cannot investigate Mrs X complaint about her freedom of information request as she has used her right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Mrs X has complained to the ICO about the Council’s response to her data protection subject access request. The ICO is better placed to deal with such complaints.
The distress Mrs X referred to in her complaint, caused by not getting the information she has requested, is not separable from the issues she has referred to the ICO.
It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has used her right of appeal to the ICO. And it is better placed to consider her data protection complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman