Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

The City of Edinburgh Council

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld Reference 201103447 Sector Local Government Category council tax Decided 01 October 2013

View City of Edinburgh Council scorecard

Full decision

Summary

Mr C raised a number of issues about the council's handling of his council tax account, in particular in relation to his application for empty property exemption. His complaints were about communication, updating addresses on the council's system and failure to take action to ensure errors made in his case were not repeated.

During our investigation we found that the council had responded to Mr C's initial enquiries about empty property exemption, but then delayed in taking action after he asked whether his property was exempt on the grounds that it was uninhabitable. The council had also accepted prior to our involvement that they should not have applied for a summary warrant for unpaid council tax, as the demand notice and reminder issued were incorrectly addressed. We found no evidence that emails or phone calls were not responded to, but did find that the council had incorrectly addressed correspondence. However, as we were satisfied that before we became involved they had already taken some action and proposed to take more, we did not find it necessary to make any recommendations.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201103447 as a PDF (11.12 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website

Other decisions involving The City of Edinburgh Council

Reference Date Summary Outcome
202505687 01 Jun 2026 C complained to the council about damp and mould in their rental property. C had been moved to the property … Upheld
202404014 01 Feb 2026 C complained that the council did not properly consider their concerns about work being carried out on a neighbour’s summerhouse … Not Upheld
202302915 01 Apr 2025 A & B complained to the council about their handling of their claims procedure in relation to the Trams to … Upheld
202303840 01 Oct 2024 C is the grandparent of A and B, whose parents were separated. C complained about the actions of the council … Partly Upheld
202301380 01 Aug 2024 C complained about the council’s social work service during the pre-adoptive process of their child (A). C complained about the … Partly Upheld
View all decisions for this organisation