The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a request for information. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider this complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complains about how the Council has dealt with his request for information. He says the Council is withholding information the he needs for a court case and wants the information to be released to him.
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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is another body better placed to consider the issues he has raised. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator set up to uphold information rights in the public interest. It is the authority that can decide how requests for information under data protection regulations are dealt with. It is therefore reasonable for him to raise the matter with the ICO.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO are better placed to consider the matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman