The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council wrongly issued a summons for council tax as there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to Mrs X to warrant our involvement. Mrs X’s complaint about a similar matter from 2008 is made late to us and we will not therefore investigate.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council wrongly issued her with a summons for unpaid council tax as she says it had not firstly sent her a reminder notice. Mrs X said this has happened twice before and also complained that the Council failed to make a compensation payment to her in 2008 regarding a similar matter. Mrs X says this has caused her stress and has affected her mental health. Mrs X feels ignored and that the Council has never properly explained what happened.
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 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council cancelled the latest summons soon after it had been issued, following contact from Mrs X. While I recognise Mrs X has outstanding concerns and would like a fuller explanation about what happened, we will not investigate. This is because we have limited resources and I do not consider any remaining injustice to Mrs X is sufficient to justify our involvement.
Mrs X’s complaints about matters in 2008 and 2019 (when another summons had been issued to her) are made late to us, as per paragraph four. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have complained to us sooner and within a year of her becoming aware of these issues. As such, I do not consider there are good reasons for us to investigate these late complaints now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaints because from our perspective, there is insufficient remaining injustice to warrant our involvement and in part, are made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman