The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about liability for Council tax as there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal. The Council’s enforcement is not fault.
The complaint
Mr X complains that the Council is enforcing a Council tax charge on a property he considers uninhabitable.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has 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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says that the Council sought a Liability Order on a property he owns. He says that he argued that the property was not habitable and the Council cancelled the Liability Order as a result.
The Council says that he was told that any decision as to whether a property should be on the Council tax list should be taken up with the Valuation Office Agency. Any dispute with their decision could be appealed to a Valuation Tribunal.
The Valuation Office Agency decided that the property should remain on the Council tax list and so the Council pursued the outstanding Council tax arrears.
Any dispute about whether or not Council tax should be paid on the property can be appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. As can any dispute as to whether an exemption or discount should apply.
The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
The Valuation Tribunal advises those appealing that they should continue to pay Council tax as their appeal progresses. The Council is not therefore obliged to cancel all enforcement action whilst an appeal is made. The Council’s enforcement action is not therefore fault.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal and there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman