London Borough of Havering (24 009 029)
Category : Environment and regulation > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Oct 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a food hygiene inspection at the complainant’s business in 2022. This is because the complaint is made late. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about freedom of information requests.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about matters concerning a food hygiene inspection that took place in 2022. Mr X says information was fabricated during the inspection and that the Council has failed to properly respond to a freedom of information request he made relating to the inspection.
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 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)
- 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
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the food hygiene inspection. The inspection took place in 2022 and Mr X was told in October that year how he could raise a complaint. It is reasonable to have complained to the Council and then the Ombudsman sooner.
- Mr X’s concerns about how the Council dealt with his freedom of information request should be raised with the Information Commissioner who is better placed to deal with such complaints.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and the Information Commissioner is better placed to deal with his concerns about how a freedom of information request was responded to.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman