The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not require a parish council to provide information Mr X had requested from it. This is because it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council failed to require a parish council to supply him with information he had requested from it. Mr X says he needs the information for his business.
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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (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/information rights. 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 Council advised Mr X his complaint was outside its remit as it concerned a parish council matter and should be directed to the parish council.
We will not investigate as it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council in this regard. While the Council can investigate complaints about parish councillor conduct it has no role to become involved in the business of a parish council itself.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator in respect of information rights and it can determine if the parish council should provide Mr X with the information he has requested. We are not empowered to do this.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council and the matter is, in any case, best dealt with by the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman