Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her information request. The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to address this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council failed to properly handle his complaint about a Subject Access request relating to safeguarding records. Mr X says the Council did not provide all the information requested. It failed to adequately address his concerns about missing records and did not properly respond to his complaint about the matter.

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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 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))
3. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complains about the Council's handling of a Subject Access Request (SAR) and whether it provided all the information requested.
7. The Council says it received the SAR and it responded in time. It carried out an internal review following further correspondence from Mr X. The Council says it provided all information it was required to disclose under data protection legislation and signposted Mr X to the Information Commissioner’s Officer (ICO).
8. The ICO is the specialist body responsible for considering complaints about subject access requests, disclosure of personal data, redactions, and whether information has been properly withheld. It has powers to investigate such matters and decide whether an organisation has complied with its obligations under data protection legislation.
9. We cannot determine what information the Council should disclose in response to a SAR or whether it has complied with its data protection obligations. We will not investigate this complaint as ICO is better placed to consider these issues.
10. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s complaint handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because the Information Commissioner's Office is better placed to consider his concerns about the Council's handling of his information request.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman