Warwickshire County Council (26 006 267)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr B’s personal data. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider this complaint.
The complaint
- Mr B complains the Council wrongly shared unverified information about him with other people who had no lawful reason to receive it. Mr B also complains that when he put in a subject access request to ask to see this information and to know who it was shared with, the Council wrongly refused to provide this information.
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 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))
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B may complain to the Information Commissioner about the Council’s handling of his personal data and its response to his subject access request. The Information Commissioner enforces all data protection legislation and is in the best position to decide the issues complained about. So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is another body – the Information Commissioner – better placed to consider this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman