London Borough of Hackney (21 012 992)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about access to the complainant’s information. This is because it concerns matters which the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider, and has already done so.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has failed to make records it holds available to him.
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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (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 has made a Subject Access Request to ask the Council to provide him with his adoption records. The Council accepts that it has failed to do so. It says that this failure was caused by a cyberattack it has suffered.
- Mr B complained to the Information Commissioner, which upheld its complaint. He argues that the Council has failed to act on the Commissioner’s findings because it has failed to provide him with a timescale for the matter to be resolved. The Council says it is unable to do so due to the measures it is taking to recover from the cyberattack.
- We will not investigate this matter because the Information Commissioner is the appropriate body to do so. It has already made a ruling and set out the steps available to Mr B. There is no role for the Ombudsman.
- Mr B also says the Court has failed to respond to a request for information. The actions of courts fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and we cannot consider them.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it concerns matters which another body was better placed to consider.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman