Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to disclose the address where his child lives with their other parent. Such matters fall outside our jurisdiction. It would be reasonable to expect Mr X to return to court to enforce the terms of any child contact or residency arrangements. He could also ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to consider whether the Council has complied with General Data Protection Regulations.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to provide him with address details for his child, who currently lives with their other parent. Mr X believes he is legally entitled to this information because the court ordered that his child should reside with him. He wants the Council to disclose his child’s address to him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X obtained a court order which confirmed his child would live with him and have indirect contact with their mother. Two years ago, Mr X’s child expressed a wish to live with their mother, which Mr X agreed.
8. Since then, Mr X says his child’s mother has refused to provide address details for his child. He also believes his child’s mother has moved out of the county. The Council understands Mr X has mobile telephone numbers and email addresses for his child and their mother. Mr X also has the postal address for his child’s maternal grandmother, if he wishes to send items to his child by post.
9. The Council has confirmed it cannot disclose address details to Mr X. It has explained the child’s mother has explicitly not consented to her and their child’s address being disclosed to Mr X. The Council has explained it cannot disclose personal data for the third party to Mr X under General Data Protection Regulations. It has suggested Mr X seeks legal advice and returns to court if he wishes to formally obtain access to this information or the return of his child to his care.
10. We will not investigate this matter because it would be reasonable for Mr X to return to court to enforce the terms of a court order relating to residency and contact arrangements for his child. It is not within the remit of the Council or us to enforce any such court order.
11. Mr X may wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if he wishes to challenge the Council’s decision not to disclose third party personal data to him. The ICO is responsible for ensuring organisations comply with data protection legislation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the issues he has raised fall outside our remit to investigate, and it would be reasonable for him to take the matter back to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman