Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s enforcement agent. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the actions the Council’s enforcement agent took against her daughter, Miss Y. She said the agency clamped Miss Y’s car while she worked for a palliative care provider. She said Miss Y was present, but the agency did not attempt to engage with her. Mrs X considered the agency’s conduct unfair and disproportionate and said it caused Miss Y distress.
2. Mrs X also said the agency used Miss Y’s personal data incorrectly and complained about how it handled her complaint. She wants assurance that similar situations will be handled more appropriately in future.

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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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. 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)
5. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X complained to the Council due to the reasons set out in paragraph one.
9. After the enforcement agent received the warrant it sent a Notice of Enforcement to the address provided. Mrs X said Y had moved house so did not received any correspondence. The Council said it did not receive any contact or payment from Miss Y and then took enforcement action.
10. In its complaint response the Council said it reviewed the body worn video camera footage, and it did not show the agent acted improperly.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s concerns and explained the actions it was entitled to take. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant the Ombudsman’s involvement.
12. Mrs X said the enforcement agent used Miss Y’s personal data incorrectly. Mrs X can raise this complain with the ICO as the body best placed to consider it.
13. Mrs X complained about the Council’s complaint process. We will not investigate this complaint because when we do not investigate the substantive issue, it is not a good use of our limited resources to investigate concerns about complaint handling alone.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the actions of the Council’s enforcement agent because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman