The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of money and handling of Ms X’s Subject Access Request (SAR) as it was made late. Ms X has the right to raise her SAR concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the Council’s actions in recovering money from her in relation to past council tax and housing benefit matters. She is also unhappy with how the Council handled her Subject Access Request (SAR).
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X raised concerns about the Council’s actions in recovering money from her in relation to past council tax and housing benefit matters Ms X made a Subject Access Request to assist with her complaint which was completed in May 2023.
I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint as her concerns are about issues that happened more than 12 months ago, and I see no good reason why she could not have complained to us sooner.
I will not investigate Ms X’s SAR concerns as I consider the Information Commissioner’s Office to be the appropriate body to deal with those issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is made late and there is no good reason to consider it now. She also has the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding her information request.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman