Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a data breach that happened eight years ago. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about a data breach that happening eight years ago.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s response. I considered some correspondence between Ms X and the Council from 2013. Some of this correspondence relates to events in 2009. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mrs X complains about a data breach that happened about eight years ago. She says the impact is still having a significant impact on her.
6. In September 2019 the Council declined to accept a complaint because it was about historical events.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Ms X is complaining about events that occurred at least eight years ago. This is significantly longer than 12 months ago and I have not seen any good reason to investigate such a late complaint.

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Final decision

8. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman