The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about applications of council tax support. This is because the Council has now considered the applications and recalculated the support so further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council did not respond to two applications he made for council tax support.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 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
Since complaining to the Ombudsman, Mr X has told me that the Council has now responded to his application, apologised and recalculated his council tax support. I will not investigate this complaint further because the issue has been resolved and therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the issue has been resolved and therefore investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman