Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council sharing information about the complainant. This is because the Ombudsman cannot question decisions made by the Council without evidence of fault and is unlikely to find fault with how it reached its decision. Parts of the complaint are also better placed to be considered by another body.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council shared incorrect information with his GP without his knowing, resulting in a mental health assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault,
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council,
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Mr X’s complaint and his correspondence with the Council. I also considered Mr X’s comments on a draft of my decision.

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What I found

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

6. The ICO has broad powers to investigate complaints about information sharing. The Ombudsman normally considers it reasonable for a person to refer those complaints to the ICO.

What happened

7. Mr X complains a social worker wrongly shared malicious information they received about Mr X with his GP, without seeking his permission or checking the truthfulness of the information.
8. Mr X complains the social worker’s actions resulted in a mental health assessment which caused him a loss of dignity, invasion of his privacy and time wasted attending appointments and correcting the false information.
9. Mr X would like a full investigation into the information sharing, and to be provided with the information that was shared about him. Mr X would also like a full apology from the Council for sharing false information about him.
10. The Council advised that it felt its actions were appropriate given the information it had been provided. It could not share further details during the complaints process but advised Mr X that he could submit a subject access request to review the information if he wished to do so.

Assessment

11. We cannot investigate the merits of the social worker’s decision to pass on information they received to the GP. This was a matter of professional judgement and I see no sign of fault in the way the social worker acted. It is unlikely we could add anything further to the response that has been provided by the Council about its justification for the action that was taken.
12. We normally expect complaints about information requests and data protection issues to be referred to the ICO. Parts of Mr X’s complaint are about the Council sharing information about him to other agencies and the action that was taken as a result. The ICO is the appropriate body to look at these parts of Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

13. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because I cannot question the merits of a decision made by the Council and see no fault in how the decision was reached. It is also because complaints about information sharing are best considered by the ICO.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman