The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s subject access request as this is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner's Office.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about delay by the Council in dealing with her data subject access request and that it has not acknowledged the complaint she made to it about this. Mrs X says this has caused her distress and trauma
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's independent regulator in respect of data protection and information rights. It is best placed to decide if Mrs X is entitled to the information she has requested and to assess how the Council has dealt with her request. It is reasonable therefore to expect Mrs X to complain to the ICO and we will not therefore investigate.
We will not investigate the Council's handling of Mrs X’s complaint as a separate matter as she is not caused a level of injustice from this sufficient to justify our further involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is best dealt with by the ICO and any fault in the Council's complaint handling, in isolation, has not caused Mrs X a level of injustice that would justify our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman