The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her Subject Access Request. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to raise this matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office and pursue financial compensation from the court.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her with information following her Subject Access Request (SAR).
Mrs X said this caused significant emotional distress. She wanted the Council to: provide the information she requested in her SAR; apologise for its alleged failures; and provide financial compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about access to information. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) holds more powers than the Ombudsman to address complaints about access to information. In this case there is no good reason for us to investigate the matter instead. In the absence of a wider complaint we could consider, the ICO is the best placed body to consider the issue.
Mrs X is seeking financial compensation as part of the remedy to her complaint. The ICO cannot achieve this. However, an individual may go to court to claim compensation for damage and distress caused by a Council if it has breached the General Data Protection Regulation or Data Protection Act. It is open for Mrs X to pursue this remedy via the court, so this is not in itself a good reason for us to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Information Commissioner’s Office is the body best placed to consider the matter, and it is open for her to pursue financial compensation via the court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman