North Yorkshire Council (25 020 375)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council has managed his personal data and how it dealt with his request for information. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider these matters.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about how the Council has managed his personal data and how it has dealt with his subject access request. He also complains about how the Council dealt with his complaints about these matters.
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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- This complaint is about a failure by the Council to comply with data protection regulations regarding how it handled Mr X’s personal data and how it shared information with him. It would be reasonable to expect Mr X to take his complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has specific powers to address these concerns.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO is better placed to consider the matters raised.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman