The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account after he fell into arrears. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council instructed Enforcement Agents to collect council tax arrears despite being aware of his vulnerability and responding to a complaint about the matter. Mr X said the Council and Enforcement Agents actions had caused him significant stress and anxiety. He would like the Council to suspend enforcement action and consider his vulnerabilities
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 complained the Council instructed Enforcement Agents to collect his council tax arrears, despite being aware of his vulnerability.
In its complaint response, the Council said it had referred Mr X to the Enforcement Agents in house welfare team and asked them to consider his vulnerability.
The Council told Mr X it had reviewed the information he had provided in 2022, and in 2025 about his vulnerabilities, and decided not to recall the debt from the Enforcement Agents. The Council confirmed the information it held about Mr X’s circumstances in 2022 would not have prevented enforcement action. The Council asked Mr X to complete an income and expenditure form so the Council could recommend a suitable payment plan.
These are all actions we would expect the Council to take. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The Council considered Mr X’s information about his vulnerabilities and decided not to recall the account from Enforcement Agents. It asked the Enforcement Agents to pass the matter to their welfare team and offered to set up a suitable payment plan for Mr X.
The Council said enforcement action was suspended on Mr X’s council tax account on several occasions in late 2025 and in 2026. In its complaint response, the Council recognised it had missed an opportunity to extend a hold on enforcement action in November 2025. It apologised for this and noted the enforcement hold was reinstated 5 days later. The Council said it had updated its processes to prevent a similar matter recurring.
We will not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council apologised for not extending the enforcement hold for 5 days in November 2025 and confirmed enforcement holds were in place in 2026.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman