Surrey County Council (21 011 821)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 03 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a Subject Access Request. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider the substantive matter.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council was at fault in its response to a Subject Access Request (SAR) and to his subsequent complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider the complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B and his wife made a SAR to the Council. Mr B complains about the Council’s response to the SAR, and to his subsequent complaint about the response.
- We will not investigate this complaint. Mr B may bring his concerns about the SAR response to the attention of the Information Commissioner, who is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider them.
- As the substantive matter does not fall to us to investigate, we will not consider the Council’s response to the complaint Mr B made.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because another body is better placed to consider the substantive matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman