The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with council tax support and payments on outstanding council tax. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains that the Council reduced her council tax support meaning she went into arears and that she has made council tax payments which have subsequently been removed from her council tax bill, resulting in her receiving letters for money she does not owe.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 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.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate how the Council dealt with Miss X’s council tax support. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Changes to the level of support Miss X received were made after the Council received information about her income. Miss X subsequently submitted a new application, which resulted in her council tax support being increased and backdated. If Miss X disagrees with the level of council tax support offered by the Council, it would be reasonable to expect her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
I will also not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with her council tax payments. This is because there is insufficient fault by the Council. Miss X has two bills with outstanding council tax balances. The payments she made were on her oldest bill, but the Council made the decision to reallocate them to her most recent bill. This is something the Council is entitled to do. The Council has told the Ombudsman that if Miss X wishes it has the discretion to move payments to whichever bill she wants and is also happy to set up a payment arrangement with Miss X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman