Westminster City Council (20 007 970)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Feb 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complained about the format in which the Council responded to his request for his personal information from its records. We will not investigate the complaint because the Information Commissioner is the body best placed to do this.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the format in which the Council responded to his request for his personal information from its records. He said the Council did not provide information in a way he could access, taking into account his disability.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I read Mr X’s complaint and discussed it with him by telephone. The Council provided documents to clarify Mr X’s requests for information and the Council’s responses.
- Mr X had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this final decision.
What I found
- Mr X asked the Council to send him his personal information from its files. The Council provided the information it considered it was required to provide.
- Mr X complained to the Council about the way it sent the information. The Council responded to Mr X and explained what it had done. It said he could make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about his continued dissatisfaction with the way it had handled his request.
- The Information Commissioner deals with complaints about how organisations handle requests for personal information. It is the body best placed to do this so we should not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate the complaint because the Information Commissioner is the body best placed to do this.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman