Swindon Borough Council (24 010 527)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Sep 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delayed response to his subject access request. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. This complaint is best dealt with by another agency.
The complaint
- Mr X says the Council is delaying acting on his request for family records which has affected family court proceedings. He says he would like the Council to ‘get its act together to serve the public effectively’.
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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
- We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's independent authority on information rights matters. It is better placed to determine if the Council has responded correctly to Mr X’s requests. So, we will not investigate.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints, about delay if we are not dealing with the substantive issue. This applies even if the ICO will not look at the delay issues.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is another body better paced to consider this complaint.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman