When the Ombudsman made enquiries with the Council, she was advised that the Council were developing a policy to allow taxpayers to submit applications for their council tax to be reduced or written off. This policy has since been approved. The Ombudsman considered that Ms A’s circumstances should be considered in line with this policy.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement that it would write to Ms A within 3 weeks to confirm it would do the following: pause the pursuance of council tax arrears until the matter could be considered under the policy, consider the case on its merits having regard to the circumstances in line with its policy, and inform Ms A of its decision.