The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mr X’s Freedom of Information request. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider the matter.
The complaint
Mr X complains about how the Council dealt with his Freedom of Information (FoI) request. He says inaccurate information has been provided in the Council’s response and wants it corrected.
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)) 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.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
This complaint is about a failure to comply with an FoI request, and it would be reasonable to expect Mr X to take his complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has specific powers to address it.
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