The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council disclosing the complainant’s personal details. This is because this matter is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained the Council disclosed his details to a third party without permission. Mr X says he has been caused considerable stress and the matter has caused him difficulties at work.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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 Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if he is concerned with how the Council handled his personal data. The ICO is the independent body set up to uphold information rights and is best placed to deal with Mr X’s concerns.
Mr X has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling and says there were delays before it looked into his concerns. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor matters such as complaint handling
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO is best placed to deal with this matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman