Ashford Borough Council (26 002 909)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Freedom of Information Act requests and its reviews of its position. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider and decide information rights complaints.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and its reviews of its position.
- Mrs X said this caused uncertainty and affected her commercial interests.
- Mrs X wants the Council to properly consider and respond to her FOIA requests.
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 Mrs X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- 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.
- 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.
- We will not investigate this complaint. The ICO is better placed to consider and decide complaints about freedom of information, and it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to complain to them.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the ICO is better placed to consider and decide complaints about information rights.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman