Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a request for information and its review of its position. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider and decide information rights complaints. Additionally, there is not enough evidence of significant personal injustice to Mr X to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the outcome of his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Council and its review of its position. Mr X said this suggested the Council’s governance and administrative functions were poor.
2. Mr X said this prevented him from holding the Council to account and undermined his confidence in it.
3. Mr X wants the Council to review its processes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

5. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The FOIA is intended to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public sector bodies by providing people with rights of access to non-personal information about how an organisation operates and makes decisions.
9. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces this legislation. The main functions of the ICO are to uphold information rights in the public interest by promoting openness by public bodies and protecting the privacy of individuals.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The substantive issue in Mr X’s complaint is the outcome from his freedom of information request to the Council and the ICO is better placed to consider and decide complaints like this.
11. Additionally, having considered Mr X’s reasons for complaining to us, I do not believe he has experienced significant enough personal injustice to warrant our involvement.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the ICO is better place to consider and decide information rights complaints, and any injustice he has experienced is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman