Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the accuracy of information produced by the Council which he says led to him not having contact with his children. This is because the Ombudsman has already considered this matter and we will not reinvestigate matters which have already been subject to an investigation. Mr X’s complaint about how the same information from the Council has recently been used is outside our jurisdiction because it relates to matters discussed in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the accuracy of information produced by the Council’s Children’s Services team. He says the information led to him not having contact with his children. Mr X says the same inaccurate information has recently been used during adoption proceedings involving his daughter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) 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

6. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

7. Mr X originally complained to the Ombudsman in 2011 about information produced by the Council which he says led to him not having contact with his children. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in 2015 about our original investigation, but we said it was too late for him to challenge our decision. Mr X remains unhappy about the Council’s original actions, but we will not reinvestigate the same matter twice. As previously explained, it is too late for Mr X to challenge our 2011 decision.
8. Mr X says the Council used the information at the heart of his complaint in a recent court case. He says this led to his daughter being adopted. But the Ombudsman has no powers to consider what happened in court, or decisions taken by the court. We therefore have no jurisdiction to consider Mr X’s complaint.
9. If Mr X believes the Council holds inaccurate information, he could contact the ICO. The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. This includes holding inaccurate information.
10. There is no charge for making a complaint to the ICO, and its complaints procedure is relatively easy to use. It has wide reaching powers to deal with failures to follow data protection legislation. The ICO is therefore in a much better position than the Ombudsman to consider complaints about the accuracy of information.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we will not reinvestigate matters already subject to an investigation, and we cannot look at matters decided in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman