London Borough of Havering (25 005 666)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Jul 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not responding to his freedom of information request. The Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider the complaint.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council did not provide the information he asked for through a freedom of information (FOI) request.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
- London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X said he asked the Council to send him information as a FOI request, as he wanted to challenge a penalty charge notice (PCN) he had received.
- Mr X can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if he believes the Council has not provided the information he has asked for. The law expressly provides this right for such situations, so we normally expect people to use it.
- Appealing PCNs is a statutory process and the Council is not required to allow more time for representations and appeals when a member of the public has asked for more information.
- If Mr X believes the Council wrongly issued the PCN, it would have been reasonable to expect him to have made representations to the Council and appeal to London Tribunals.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman