Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his council tax data. The Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider and decide complaints about data protection.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council shared data about his council tax account with a third-party, without any good reason to do so. Mr X said this amounted to a data breach.
2. Mr X also complained the Council did not properly investigate his complaint.
3. Mr X said this meant a third-party had information about him, and he spent significant time handling the issue.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 the complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. 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)
6. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces data protection legislation. The ICO can investigate complaints about data protection. 
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The ICO is better placed to consider and decide data protection complaints. It can also determine whether the alleged fault amounts to a data breach. We cannot do this.
11. As we will not investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO is better placed to consider and decide complaints about data protection.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman