Summary: Miss X complains that the Council wrongly shared information about her with her violent ex-partner then failed to respond appropriately to her complaints about this. We have discontinued the investigation as Miss X is pursuing legal action against the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council:
1. Wrongly shared information about her with her violent ex-partner despite assurances this would be kept strictly confidential. She says after the data breach her ex-partner made a threat to her life;
2. Failed to acknowledge its fault or respond to her complaints in a timely manner;
3. Offered an inadequate remedy in the form of an apology;
4. Failed to carry out a risk assessment on her and her child within a reasonable time; and
5. Failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment on her parents.
2. Miss X says she has suffered severe distress and disruption to her life as a result of the Council’s actions.

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What I have investigated

3. I made enquiries in relation to the data breach and related issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. 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)
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I spoke to Miss X and made enquiries of the Council. I also shared this draft statement with Miss X and the Council and considered their comments before finalising my decision.

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What I found

8. In response to my enquiry letter the Council advised me it had received a pre-action letter from Miss X claiming damages for the data breach. The Council said the claim was being handled by its insurers. Miss X confirmed that she is taking legal action in relation to the data breach but said her complaint went beyond this. She asked that the investigation continue.
9. The complaint relates to the data breach and the Council’s actions in response to the breach. It does not contain any elements that are separable from the breach.
10. I therefore decided to discontinue the investigation.

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Final decision

11. I have discontinued my investigation as Miss X is taking legal action on the matters covered by the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman