The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax summons and a Subject Access Request. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice and because the complainant can complain to the Information Commissioner.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, says the Council served a council tax summons despite telling him the account was on hold. Mr X also says the Council did not properly respond to his Subject Access Request. Mr X wants compensation for the Council’s failings.
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 an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner (ICO) 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 Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council served a council tax summons despite telling him it had put the account on hold. I will not investigate this part of the complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. This is because the Council withdrew the summons and cancelled the costs.
Mr X says the Council did not respond properly to a Subject Access Request. I will not investigate this part of the complaint because he can complain to the ICO and says he has already done so. It is reasonable for Mr X to do this because the ICO is the appropriate organisation to consider if the Council responded correctly to the SAR request.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice and because Mr X can complain to the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman