The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to impose an increase on Council Tax for second homes. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to Court.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the way the Council decided to impose an increase of Council Tax on second homes.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council failed to follow the correct procedure in deciding to impose an increased Council Tax on second homes.
The Council decided to increase the charge on a substantially furnished property with no resident using its legal powers. The law says someone can only challenge this decision by a judicial review in the High Court. Because of this I cannot investigate how the Council decided this. (Section 11A of the Local Government Act 1992 as amended).
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to apply to Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman