North Yorkshire Council (26 002 798)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s response to her information request and its failure to respond to her request for a review. An investigation would not lead to a different outcome and the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider a complaint about access to information.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the Council’s response to her request for information and that it had failed to respond to her request for an internal review. She says the response in incomplete and the matter has caused her distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
- there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has now responded to Ms X’s review request so an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
- If Ms X remains unhappy, she can refer her complaint to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner’s Office considers complaints about data protection and access to information. It is better placed to consider Ms X’s complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it would not lead to a different outcome and the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider a complaint about access to information.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman