London Borough of Enfield (23 007 096)
Category : Other Categories > Land
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled a request for information. This is because there is another body better placed to handle this complaint.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council has not provided her with information she requested from it, about money it owed to her late brother. Ms X says this has caused her distress and has added to the financial stress of dealing with inheritance tax. She would like the Council to apologise and provide the information that has been requested.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 and the Council’s responses.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Before Ms X’s brother passed away, his house was purchased by the Council under a compulsory purchase order. At the time of his death, the money had not been paid to him. Ms X asked the Council for information about this money, as she says she needed this to establish the inheritance tax liability of her brother’s estate.
- The Council said they would provide this once Ms X sent them a document, called letters of administration, which demonstrated Ms X had legal responsibility for managing her brother’s estate. Ms X is still waiting for this document.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent authority on data protection and information rights and is therefore best placed to determine if the Council ought to have provided the information Ms X requested from it. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to complain to the ICO therefore and as such, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is another body better placed to handle this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman