The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability as Mrs X can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal about it.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council has refused to award a student discount to her council tax account and has not responded to the complaint she made about this, which Mrs X feels is unfair. Mrs X wants the discount to be applied and for the Council to improve its communications.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Valuation Tribunal (VT) is the independent body that hears appeals about council tax liability including eligibility for discounts. It is the appropriate body to deal with this matter and it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to use this appeal procedure. As such, we will not investigate.
I understand why Mrs X might be frustrated if the Council has not responded to her complaint, but we will not investigate this as a separate matter as it would not be a good use of our limited resources to do so.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to appeal to the VT.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman