The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the administration of Mr G’s council tax account from 2014 to 2019. The complaint is late and there is no good reason he could not have complained to the Ombudsman sooner. The Council has provided a clear response on what happened, and the passage of time means we could not likely investigate to add anything worthwhile to the result. It would also have been reasonable for Mr G to appeal to a tribunal against any council tax demand he disagreed with.
The complaint
Mr G says the Council incorrectly managed his council tax from 2014 and this has resulted in wrong assessment of council tax, including for periods back to 2009.
Mr G also says he believes the amount the Council is seeking relates to its charges and not the actual council tax. As a result, he would like the Council to remove all the charges made and provide him with the figure for the actual council tax owed.
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, section 26B, as amended) 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.
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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr G disputes the amount of council tax he owes for periods dating back to 2009, and says he has been pursuing this since 2014. Mr G’s complaint is therefore late, and there is no reason he could not have complained to us sooner as eight years have passed.
The Council has provided an explanation of what happened, and it is unlikely after so long we could investigate effectively and reach a different outcome. If Mr G wishes to dispute individual transactions in the list the Council has provided it is open to him to provide the Council with relevant evidence, but that is not the basis of his complaint to us.
It is also the case it would have been reasonable for Mr G to appeal against any council tax demand he disagreed with at the time it was issued. The Valuation Tribunal is a free and easy to use service which deals with council tax liability issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr G’s complaint because: it is late and he could reasonably have complained sooner; there is no reasonable prospect of us adding to the information the Council has provided; and it would have been reasonable for Mr G to appeal against the original council tax demands if he disagreed with them.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman