Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council sharing information with external organisations without Ms X’s consent. Complaints about data protection are better dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has breached data protection regulations by sharing unredacted copies of her son’s Education, Health and Care plan with multiple colleges in its area without her knowledge or consent. She says this has led to these organisations receiving a disproportionate and unreasonably large amount of their personal information. She also says the Council has failed to respond to her complaint. She wants the Council to respond to her complaint and review its data handling procedures.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council sharing information without Ms X’s consent. The complaint relates to data protection and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is better placed to consider these matters.
7. She also complains about Council delay responding to her complaint. She has already sought advice from the ICO about the delay, who have contacted the Council on her behalf. It would be appropriate for her to seek further advice from the ICO if there is ongoing delay. The ICO could consider whether to use its discretion to accept her complaint early, if the Council continues to fail to provide a response.
8. In addition, it is not a good use of public resources to us to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the ICO are better placed to deal with the matters complained about.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman