The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council refusing her application for council tax reduction. This is because Mrs X could reasonably have used her right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council wrongly calculated her family’s income, which meant it refused her application for council tax reduction.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 Mrs X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X believes the Council wrongly refused to reduce her council tax. The Council confirmed its decision and told Mrs X she had the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The law expressly provides this route for challenging such decisions, so we normally expect people to use it. I have seen no evidence to suggest Mrs X could not reasonably have used her appeal right.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman