Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a subject access request. This is because there is another body better placed to consider.

The complaint

1. In short, Mr X complains about the way the Council handled a subject access request (SAR) concerning his council tax.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X describes how the Council failed to respond properly to his request and delayed answering his complaint. He said it continued to take council tax enforcement action against him while his request for information was delayed. He also says the Council disclosed his personal data by sending it via standard email without encryption or passcodes.
6. The Council accepts it acted with delay on Mr X’s request for information. It said disclosing information by email was not ‘best practice’.
7. We will not investigate. This is because the substantive issues concern compliance with data protection legislation and the handling of a Subject Access Request. There is another body better placed to consider this complaint. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the specialist regulator responsible for considering complaints about the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, Subject Access Requests and the security of personal information. The ICO has powers to investigate these matters, determine whether data protection law has been breached and require remedial action where appropriate.
8. Where we are not investigating the core matter in a complaint, we would not investigate any side issues arising such as about the Council’s complaints process. This is because it would not be proportionate to do. So, we will not investigate the Council’s delays in responding to Mr X’s complaints.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is another body better placed to consider.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman