Summary: Mr X says the Council has breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We will not investigate. There is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which has caused him distress and personal hardship.
2. Mr X says he has requested information relating to his council tax account as he believes he may be a victim of fraud.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X is concerned his details may have been used to create a business account for fraudulent purposes. He says he received a refund on his council tax account referencing a ‘supplier code’. And that all his requests for information have been made within this context.
9. The Council has responded to Mr X to say he is not registered as a supplier. It refers to Mr X receiving the refund back in 2000.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the regulator for information rights, and it is best placed to consider whether the Council has responded to Mr X’s requests for information in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
11. There is another reason we will not investigate. Mr X has made his complaint late to us as it seems he received this information back in 2000. This means his complaint is caught by the time bar on the Ombudsman’s powers and there is no good reason to investigate.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider the Council’s handling of Mr X’s requests for information.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman