Shropshire Council (25 019 796)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint from Mr X about his information request regarding contracted service providers used by the Council. The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to address this.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council failed to provide information about how it monitors its contracted service providers. He says that instead of giving the requested procedural information, the Council avoided the questions and reframed them as too broad. As a result, he says there is no transparent way to understand how contractors are overseen or how residents can raise concerns.
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 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))
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X wants procedural information held by the Council, specifically how the Council manages complaints related to third‑party contractors who provide services on its behalf.
- This complaint is about a data matter, and so Mr X can complain to the ICO about the Council’s refusal to provide the information requested.
- We cannot decide what information a council should release or how it should respond to freedom of information requests.
Final decision
- We will not investigate the complaint because the ICO are better placed to deal with his complaint about how his request for information was dealt with.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman