The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council charging her full council tax even though the Council does not maintain the road where she lives. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs B lives on a private road which has not been adopted by the Council.
Mrs B complains the Council should not be charging her full council tax because the Council does not maintain the road. Mrs B also complains the Council has not answered her query about how she can ask the Council to adopt the road.
Mrs B says the Council should either reduce her council tax or adopt the road and maintain the area.
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs B and asked the Council to respond to Mrs B’s query about adopting the road.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The amount of council tax a person pays is based on the valuation band of their home. Certain discounts and exemptions are available and these are mainly based on the condition of the property and the people living at the property.
Council tax is not based on the number of council services a person benefits from. So, the Council was not at fault for telling Mrs B it cannot reduce her council tax for this reason.
The Council has now responded to Mrs B’s query about how she can ask the Council to adopt the road and the process involved. So, further involvement by the Ombudsman is not justified.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman