The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council requesting financial information from Mr X. This is because there is insufficient fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council is requesting unnecessary information from him and will not accept the payment arrangement terms he is offering.
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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained the Council is asking for unnecessary financial information to devise a payment arrangement to clear the council tax debt he has accrued. Mr X says the information requested is from a period he was dealing with a medical issue. He said the Council should accept the terms of a payment arrangement he was offering in light of the health issues he was dealing with at the time.
The Council explained it needed the information to understand Mr X’s current financial situation. The Council offered to discuss the matter with a representative or with the citizen’s advice bureau and gave Mr X information about its discretionary relief fund.
Mr X wants us to find the Council at fault. The Council has explained it requires current information and offered Mr X several options for how to provide this information. The Council has discretion to decide on the terms of the payment arrangement. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to result in a finding of fault on the Council’s part.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient fault to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman