Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council unlawfully disposed of Mr X’s car. This is because the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now. Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to his subject access request is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to compensate him for wrongly selling his car at auction in 2021 after it was seized when it enforced a penalty charge notice (PCN). Mr X says in 2023, the court ruled that enforcement should not have gone ahead. Mr X complains the Council told him in early 2026 it has no records relating to this matter after he made a subject access request to it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us, that is, not within a year of him knowing about the problem – that the court ruled in his favour in 2023 and in 2024 he knew his complaint to the Council had been unsuccessful. Mr X complained to us in June 2026. The restriction in paragraph three therefore applies. We will not investigate as I consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner and within a year of him knowing about the problem.
8. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s regulator in respect of data protection matters and is best placed to assess the Council’s response to Mr X’s subject access request.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now. Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to his subject access request is best dealt with by the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman