Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

The Ombudsman's final decision

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled a request for information. This is because there is another body better placed to handle this complaint.

We will also not investigate the Council’s complaint handling. I t is not a good use of public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with this complaint .

The complaint

Mr X complains the Council has not provided information he requested about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). He is also unhappy with how the Council responded to his complaint. Mr X says this has been time consuming and has caused distress. Mr X would like the Ombudsman to review the complaint response and consider whether the Council are correctly enforcing PCNs.

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.

How I considered this complaint

I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.

I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

Mr X received a PCN. He was unhappy about this, and asked the Council for information about how it deals with PCNs. He is unhappy with the response provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent authority on data protection and information rights and is therefore best placed to determine if the Council ought to have provided the information Mr X requested from it. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to complain to the ICO therefore and as such, we will not investigate.

Mr X is also unhappy with how the Council dealt with his complaints. It is not a good use of public money to investigate how a Council dealt with a complaint where we are not investigating the substantive matter. Therefore, we will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling.

Final decision

We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is another body better placed to handle this complaint and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with this complaint.

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman