Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (20 007 299)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Nov 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about Council delay in responding to her complaint about a data breach which caused her distress. The Ombudsman will not investigate as this is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the Council has not responded to a complaint she made over a year ago about it breaching her data confidentiality. Mrs X has been caused distress by this and seeks compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered what Mrs X said in her complaint and I have sent her my draft decision for her comments.
What I found
- Mrs X complains the Council has not responded to a complaint she made over a year ago about it breaching her data confidentiality. Mrs X says this is despite the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) directing the Council to provide a response.
- Mrs X has been caused distress by this and seeks compensation.
- The ICO is the UK’s independent authority on data protection matters. It is best placed to deal with the concerns Mrs X raises about the alleged data breach and the Council delay in responding to its direction.
- The Ombudsman cannot determine if compensation should be awarded for damage to Mrs X caused by the alleged data breach. Only the courts can do this. There is a procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the courts and it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to take this course of action for the compensation she seeks.
Final decision
- My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the ICO and/or the courts are best placed to deal with this matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman