Cheshire East Council (24 015 724)
Category : Education > School admissions
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about how the Council responded to her Freedom of Information request because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to investigate.
The complaint
- Mrs Y complains the Council’s response to her Freedom of Information (FOI) request was incomplete. She says that the Council did not respond to her complaint or provide the missing 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 or continue 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))
- The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs Y and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council responded to Mrs Y’s FOI request. Mrs Y contacted the Council and then made a complaint as she felt the information provided was incomplete. The Council explained its reasons for not providing more information in its complaint response to Mrs Y.
- Mrs Y’s complaint is about a FOI request, and it is reasonable for her to refer the matter to the ICO. I therefore will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman