The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council calculated Mr X’s council tax support. That is because the Valuation Tribunal is best placed to consider complaints about council tax.
The complaint
Mr X complained about how the Council calculated his council tax bill. He said it had failed to apply council tax support from December onwards. He said the Council took unnecessary recovery action against him. He said it had not made a hardship fund payment to him despite stating it had.
Mr X wants the Council to accept its mistakes and pay him compensation for its actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended) The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X was in receipt of council tax support. The Council wrote to Mr X in January 2022 to tell him it had stopped that support in December 2021 because he was not eligible based on his earnings. It set out his right to appeal.
The following month Mr X complained to the Council that he should be in receipt of council tax support. The Council dealt with this though its complaints procedures. It wrote to Mr X and explained why it had stopped his council tax support. It confirmed it had credited his account with the hardship fund payment.
Mr X made a new council tax support application. The Council accepted that claim and backdated the council tax support start date to February 2022. The Council sought a Liability Order from the Court in May 2022, for council tax arrears up to February 2022.
Mr X made a further complaint about the Council not backdating the council tax support claim earlier than February. The Council sent a complaint response explaining the council tax start date. It also apologised for not dealing with the council tax support claim in April, when it had first received it.
In response to our enquiries, the Council has accepted it should have directed Mr X to the appeals process sooner to resolve the dispute about council tax support. It has since written to Mr X setting out his rights to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal; it has also reminded staff to be clearer on directing complainants to the tribunal process. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint further. If Mr X is unhappy about how the Council has calculated his council tax support, it would be reasonable for him to contact the Valuation Tribunal. I am satisfied with the steps the Council has taken to prevent a recurrence of the fault identified.
Although Mr X is unhappy about the Council’s decision to take recovery action, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our investigating. Although Mr X is unhappy the court granted a Liability Order, we have no jurisdiction to consider what happened in court.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as it is reasonable for him to ask the Valuation Tribunal to consider his council tax support complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman