The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account as it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council. We cannot investigate the complaint about a liability order as this was decided in court and not therefore within our legal remit.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council took council tax payments from his bank account without his permission, asked to see all of his bank transactions to decide a council tax support claim, which Mr X considers to be a breach of his human rights, and falsely obtained a liability order against him at court for council tax owed. Mr X wants the Council to cancel the liability order and ‘wipe the slate clean’ in respect of his council tax account.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended) 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 or continue 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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its complaint responses to Mr X, the Council explained there was an existing direct debit mandate in place, provided by him, regarding council tax instalments and so it was empowered under this to take payments from Mr X’s bank account.
We will not investigate this aspect of the complaint as it is unlikely we will find fault in this regard.
Under The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012, the Council is entitled to ask for any information reasonably needed to determine eligibility for council tax support. As financial need is assessed when determining such applications, it is unlikely that the Council asking to see bank statements is fault.
The liability order was granted by a court. We have no remit to investigate such decisions. Mr X will need to take this up with the court if he considers the procedure was unlawful.
For these reasons, we cannot and will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a liability order as this was a court decision and therefore not within our remit. It is unlikely we will find fault by the Council in respect of direct debit payments and information it requested from Mr X in relation to a council tax support application. We will not therefore investigate these associated aspects of the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman