Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the provision of information under Freedom of Information legislation. The complainant can ask the Information Commissioner to consider the issue and appeal to a tribunal if necessary.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about Park Smarter which acts on behalf of the Council on certain traffic management issues. He says it has refused or failed to deal with his formal complaint about its failure to answer his request for information. The information related to traffic management issues which Mr B says are not the subject of his complaint to us.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). We usually consider it reasonable to expect a complainant to refer a complaint about freedom of information issues to the Information Commissioner.
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue..

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

7. Where it acts on behalf of the Council, we consider a complaint against Park Smarter is a complaint against the Council.
8. In August 2020, Mr B asked Park Smarter for information in relation to traffic management issues. In a letter to Park Smarter he said he had requested information to which he was entitled under Freedom of Information legislation.
9. Mr B says Park Smarter has failed to provide the information he requested and will not deal with a complaint about this.

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Final decision

10. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr B can complain to the Information Commissioner about the provision of information and appeal to a tribunal if necessary. As we will not look at the substantive matter, we will not look at how the Council, or Park Smarter, dealt with his complaint about it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman