The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax billing. There is insufficient outstanding injustice to warrant an investigation and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council issued him with incorrect council tax bills during the 2023/24 tax year. He says this caused uncertainty and distress and meant he was unable to budget effectively. He wants the Council to provide training for its staff, send customers correct council tax bills and improve its service.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its complaint response to Mr X, the Council explained how it had calculated his council tax bill and instalments during the 2023/24 tax year. It accepted there was a delay removing a temporary hold placed on his account in October 2023, which had led to recalculated instalment payments for the rest of the year. It apologised to him for the error. It said it had discussed the matter with the officer involved to learn from it and prevent recurrence of the fault.
We will not investigate this complaint. Despite the recalculated instalments, Mr X paid the correct amount of council tax for the financial year. There is insufficient outstanding injustice to warrant an investigation. The Council has also apologised to him in its complaint response which is an appropriate remedy for any uncertainty and distress caused. An investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman