Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of a resident group about the Council’s failure to provide information relating to a proposed development. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because this is a matter for the Information Commissioner’s Office. There is no significant injustice caused at this stage as no decision has been made by the Council about the development.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of a resident group about the Council’s failure to provide information relating to a proposed development.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has had an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X says that the Council refused to release certain information relating to a possible site for development. He made a Freedom of Information request. The Council explained the reasons for their actions. The Council also confirmed that no decision had yet been made on the location.
6. Any dispute about the Council’s response to a Freedom of Information request can be pursued to the Information Commissioner’s Office. It is not therefore a matter for the Ombudsman. Further, no decision has yet been made by the Council and so the Ombudsman could not investigate any complaint about the development itself.

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Final decision

7. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because this is a matter for the Information Commissioner’s Office and there is no significant injustice from the development process.
    

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman