Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his subject access requests and personal information in connection with a penalty charge notice. This is because there is another more suitable body better placed to consider.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that he sent multiple subject access requests (SARs) to the Council to no avail.
2. He says the Council has failed to adhere to its obligations under information rights legislation. This has caused him distress while he from suffers from poor health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant which includes the Council’s response. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In summary, the Council’s response to Mr X says that the parking services department has no record of receiving his SARs. It advises that new requests should be directed to the Council's Data Protection Officer. It also says a chronology of the PCN case had previously been provided.

6. We will not investigate. This is because the complaint concerns the Council's compliance with data protection legislation, including its handling of Subject Access Requests and disclosure of personal information. These are matters that fall within the regulatory remit and specialist expertise of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
7. Mr X has already raised concerns with the ICO and provided copies of correspondence sent to that body. The ICO is the specialist regulator responsible for considering whether organisations have complied with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It is therefore better placed than us to assess the issues raised. We would not normally investigate complaints where another body is better suited to consider the matter.
8. I have considered if there are any matters we could investigate. While the complainant also refers to correspondence not being responded to, these concerns are closely linked to his allegations about the Council's handling of personal data and information requests. It would not be possible to separate out any administrative handling issues from the underlying data protection concerns and investigate as stand-alone matters.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is another more suitable body better placed to consider. And I do not consider there are any separate administrative handling issues we could consider as these are too closely linked to his SAR complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman