London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (25 004 759)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the start of court action and documents sent to an old address. We do not have jurisdiction to investigate the Council’s decision to start legal proceedings, and the Information Commissioner is better placed to investigate complaints about data breaches.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council started legal proceedings against her. She also complains they sent documents to an old address causing a data breach.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council decided to take legal action against Miss X and served legal documents to her previous address.
- Miss X complains the legal action was unjustified.
- We cannot investigate this complaint because we have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about the start of court action.
- Miss X also complains the Council breached data protection by sending the documents to her previous address after she had moved.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office is the organisation best placed to consider complaints about how organisations handle people’s data. In the absence of a wider complaint within our remit, there is not a good reason for us to consider the matter instead.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. We do not have jurisdiction to investigate the Council’s decision to start legal proceedings, and the Information Commissioner is better placed to investigate complaints about data breaches.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman