The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainants’ council tax account. It is unlikely we would find fault in how the Council has sought to recover unpaid council tax.
The complaint
The complainants, who I refer to here as Mr and Mrs B, say the Council was wrong to recover unpaid council tax from Mrs B. Mr B has entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) and believed he was not liable for council tax. Mr B also says the Council did not take account of his mental health issues when dealing with his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. It 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) 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) It is not a good use of public funds to investigate separately how a council dealt with a complaint if we decide not to investigate the main issue.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr and Mrs B and by the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
In law, Mr and Mrs B are jointly liable for all the council tax at their home. The Council is obliged to collect council tax from people who are liable to pay.
Mr B wrongly believed his IVA meant he no longer had to pay council tax. However, the Council decided Mrs B was liable to pay all the council tax for their home if Mr B could not pay. If they wished to dispute this, they had a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
As there was no successful appeal, the Council was entitled to recover unpaid council tax from Mrs B. I have not seen any evidence of fault in how it has done this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr and Mrs B’s complaint because they had a right of appeal against any decision about their liability to pay council tax. There is nothing to suggest fault in how the Council has sought to recover unpaid council tax from them.
We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr B’s complaint because we are not investigating the main issue.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman