The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that unlicensed businesses in Mr X’s local area are using the pavement for business use. This is because any injustice to Mr X is not sufficient to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained to the Council about local businesses using the pavement for business use without them being licensed to do so. Mr X is unhappy that the Council has required him to make applications for information via freedom of information legislation (FOI) rather than just providing responses. Mr X complains about overall delay in the Council dealing with his complaint.
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (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/information rights. 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
While I recognise Mr X has concerns about potential unlicensed use of pavements, he is not personally impacted by this, or from how the Council has dealt with his complaint, to a degree that would warrant our further involvement. We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases, in the public interest.
Any issues about the Council’s responses to Mr X’s information requests should be directed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It is the UK’s independent regulator in respect of information rights and is best placed to assess how the Council has responded in this regard.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is not caused a level of personal injustice from his complaint that would justify our further involvement. The issues around FOI requests are best dealt with by the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman