Birmingham City Council (21 002 323)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jul 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council sending a letter to Mr X in error, as the injustice to Mr X is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council sent a letter to him to sign for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) application. Mr X is concerned someone is using his address for fraudulent purposes.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or 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 considered information provided by the Mr X and the Council, and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- The complainant now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.
My assessment
- The Council has explained that a letter sent to Mr X about a DFG application was sent in error. It has apologised for this and assured Mr X that no attempted fraud has taken place or that his data was shared with any third party.
- I do not consider that any remaining injustice to Mr X is serious enough to warrant our involvement or the use of public funds. In addition, if Mr X wishes to pursue this further, then the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is best placed to help, as it deals with complaints about the processing of personal data.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because the injustice Mr X claims is not serious enough to warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman