The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council withholding information from a Care Company. This is because the Information Commissioner Office would be best placed to consider this complaint.
The complaint
Mr X said the Council withheld information needed to reconcile a deceased Client’s finances to determine outstanding fees. He said it relied on data protection legislation inappropriately and the Care Company are owed a significant amount of money.
Mr X said the Council advised the Company to pursue the estate for the debt. He wants the Council to provide information about how the Client used their direct payment funds.
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)) We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council explained to Mr X that the Client accepted responsibility for managing the direct payment funds under its direct payment agreement.
The Council confirmed the Client’s direct payments were used to pay the Company and the funds in the direct payment account had been exhausted meaning no further invoices could be paid. It also said the Client’s financial information is not needed to calculate any outstanding balance.
If Mr X is unhappy with information shared by the Council and believes it has applied data protection legislation incorrectly, that would be matter for the ICO.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman