The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s council tax reduction decisions in 2021. This is because the complaint is late, and Mr B could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
Mr B complains about the Council’s decisions on his council tax support from 2021. This increased his council tax bills. He says the Council has made a mistake and he cannot afford this.
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 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).
We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide it would have been reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has or had a right of appeal, reference or review 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 use this right. (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 Mr B and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B was receiving full council tax support or council tax reduction (CTR) from the Council from 2019 because he had low income. CTR is a discount, not a benefit. It reduces the amount of council tax a person has to pay.
If a council gives someone too much CTR it can reduce the CTR and increase how much council tax the person owes.
In July 2021 the Council reassessed Mr B’s CTR when his income changed. It wrote to him with its decision and advised him how he could appeal.
Mr B questioned the council tax bills he received after the Council’s decision. The Council replied explaining its reasons in December 2021 and September 2022. It said he could appeal the decision.
Mr B complained to the Ombudsman in June 2024. As Mr B was aware of the Council’s CTR decision in July 2021 this complaint is late. I do not consider there are good reasons to investigate it now.
In addition, Mr B had the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal, and it is reasonable to expect him to have appealed.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman