The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with his information requests. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to investigate the matter.
The complaint
Mr X complains that the Council delayed responding to his subject access requests and freedom of information requests and that when the Council did respond, the information was inaccessible.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) 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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK regulator for data protection and is responsible for enforcing UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the ICO have more extensive powers than we do here, and they were set up by parliament to investigate complaints about a person’s data rights. Therefore, it is a more suitable body to investigate this complaint. In any case, Mr X has also already complained to the ICO.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO is better placed to consider the matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman