The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council sent him a letter in error telling him his child, Y, did not have a school placement from September 2024. This is because the Council has already apologised, and further investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome. Mr X could also take his complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office if he is concerned about unlawful data processing.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council sent a letter telling him his child, Y, did not have a school placement from September 2024.
Mr X says the matter caused him distress and uncertainty.
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: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(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. 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
Mr X received a letter from the Council telling him his child, Y, did not have a school placement from September 2024. Mr X complained to the Council. The Council responded and told Mr X it had added Y’s details to a database of children who did not have a school placement in error. Mr X complained again and asked how his child’s details were added to the database. The Council told Mr X it could not identify the reason the error occurred. It apologised and told Mr X it had removed Y’s name from the database. The time between the Council sending the letter to Mr X and clarifying the error was less than one week.
Analysis We will not investigate this complaint further. This is because the Council accepted fault for sending the letter in error. Once Mr X made the Council aware of the concern it acted quickly to resolve the matter. It apologised to Mr X for the distress and uncertainty this caused and an investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve a different outcome.
The Council told Mr X it was not able to determine how Y was added to the database of children that had no school placement. If Mr X is concerned the Council unlawfully processed his child’s data, I consider it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office which is the statutory body created to investigate this type of complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman