The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about enforcement of Council Tax arrears. This is because some parts are late, some parts involve court action and for the remainder further investigation is unlikely to find fault or achieve a worthwhile outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complains he was confused about his Council Tax account because the Council incorrectly cancelled his Direct Debit and allocated payments to different balances. He says the Council took three months to reply to his email and did not provide a full breakdown when he requested one.
He says this led to enforcement action and he incurred court and enforcement fees that may have been avoidable. He says he experienced significant stress and anxiety dealing with enforcement agents.
He would like the Council to review court and enforcement fees, apologise for the stress and inconvenience caused and recommend service improvements.
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 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) 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. Mr X knew about the changes to his Direct Debit and some of his arrears in 2024. Mr X could have complained to the Ombudsman about these matters sooner.
Even if I agreed the complaint was on time, my decision not to investigate would be the same. This is because the Council has explained changes to the account and apologised for any confusion. It is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would add to this response or achieve anything more for Mr X.
The Council provided an account breakdown in its Stage 2 response and apologised for not providing this sooner. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Mr X complains that court and enforcement fees were triggered by the Council’s misallocation of payments and incorrect data. The Council took recovery action in accordance with Council Tax regulations and the Council’s standard procedures. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Mr X is unhappy that court fees were added to the debt. However, the restrictions in paragraph eight apply as the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters relating to court proceedings or what happened in court.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because some parts are late, some parts involve court action and for the remainder further investigation is unlikely to find fault or achieve a worthwhile outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman