The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about enforcement of council tax arrears. The complaint has been brought late, and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have complained sooner.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council took enforcement action against him for council tax arrears. Mr X says the Council’s summons costs were unreasonable.
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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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 2023 the Council applied to the court for a liability order in relation to Mr X’s council tax debt. The Council included their costs for issuing the summons.
Mr X complains the Council took enforcement action against him for council tax arrears and overcharged him for the costs incurred in issuing the summons. Mr X also says the Council referred to the court incorrectly in the court summons.
We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Mr X received the summons in 2023 but did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2025. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I have considered whether to exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint, but I have seen no good reasons to do so.
Even if the Complaint was not late, we would not investigate. We cannot investigate the Council’s decision to issue a court summons or the court summons costs. These matters relate to the start of court action and what happened in court so fall outside our jurisdiction.
Mr X also complains the Council failed to respond to a request for information. The Information Commissioner’s Office is the organisation best placed to consider complaints about how organisations handle people’s data and respond to requests for information. In the absence of a wider complaint within our remit, there is not a good reason for us to consider the matter instead.
Finally, we will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint as it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The complaint has been brought late, and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have complained sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman