The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about mismanagement of a council tax account as the Council has offered an appropriate remedy for the injustice that arose from this.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council sent him a large bill for council tax after failing to send him bills, or other communications, for two years. Mr X says this is unethical and impacts on his finances.
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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its complaint responses, the Council acknowledged it had not managed the account properly with delays in sending the details to the agency that would have assigned a council tax band to the property to allow the Council to issue council tax bills. It also recognised there had been communication failings. In recognition of this, the Council offered to reduce Mr X’s bill by £1600.
We will not investigate as this is an acceptable remedy by the Council and any further involvement by us would not add to this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because I am satisfied with the remedy the Council has proposed.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman