The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council assessed the complainant’s Council Tax Reduction in 2017. This is because it is a late complaint, and the complainant could have used his appeal rights.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about the way the Council assessed his income, and processed his claim for Council Tax Reduction (CTR), in 2017.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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) 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) The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and CTR letters from 2017. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
In 2017 the Council made a decision about the way it would treat Mr X’s income. It made a CTR decision, in 2017, based on that assessment. Mr X contacted the Council about the decision. In August 2017 the Council confirmed the decision. Mr X appealed to the tribunal about a housing benefit decision but he did not appeal to the Valuation Tribunal about the CTR.
Mr X now complains about the 2017 CTR decision and the way the Council assessed his income in 2017. He says the Council has refused to correct the mistake it made in 2017, has used false data, and committed fraud.
I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X has been aware of the CTR decision since 2017 but he did not complain to us until 2024. I have not seen any good reason to accept a complaint about a decision the Council made seven years ago which Mr X has been aware of since 2017.
I also will not investigate this complaint because Mr X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect him to have appealed because the Valuation Tribunal is the appropriate body to consider CTR disputes. The tribunal would have decided if the Council correctly assessed Mr X’s income in 2017.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint and because Mr X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman