South Oxfordshire District Council (21 011 416)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 31-Mar-2022

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to seek repayment of COVID-19 business grants and that this will cause him financial difficulties. The Council wrongly awarded the grants which was fault. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to recover the grants after it realised it had paid them in error.

Dover District Council (21 016 500)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 31-Mar-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the decision to end the complainant’s council tax support. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. The complaint is therefore outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.

Eastbourne Borough Council (21 017 730)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 31-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayment where the complainant was notified in 2018.

Milton Keynes Council (21 018 820)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 30-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to exempt the complainant from paying Council Tax. This is because it is not unreasonable to expect the complainant to have used his right of appeal against the Council’s decision.

London Borough of Haringey (21 018 249)

Statement Upheld Council tax 30-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council wrongly stopped taking his council tax payments in 2021 causing arrears. The Council has resolved the complaint appropriately by explaining what went wrong, apologising for its error, and offering to spread the arrears over this financial year.

North Northamptonshire Council (21 008 400)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 29-Mar-2022

Summary: There was no fault in how the Council considered the complainant’s application for a discretionary COVID-19 business restart grant. The Council was at fault because it did not explore the complainant’s requests for reasonable adjustments, but this did not cause him an injustice. It is not the Council’s fault that the various COVID-19 support schemes can be difficult to understand, and it has taken appropriate steps to mitigate this. We have therefore completed our investigation.

London Borough of Croydon (21 009 512)

Statement Upheld Council tax 29-Mar-2022

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council using her old address when recovering unpaid council tax. We found the Council at fault in continuing to use the old address although its council tax correspondence was ‘returned to sender’. Use of the old address led to added recovery costs on the council tax debt, which Mrs X had to pay. To put matters right the Council agreed to refund the council tax recovery costs of £495.50 to Mrs X.

London Borough of Hounslow (21 013 442)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 29-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability and council tax support. It would be reasonable for the complainant to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. We will also not investigate parts of the complaint about fraud and the Council causing him to lose his business. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Lincoln City Council (21 018 536)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 29-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a data breach by the Council and the compensation it has offered. This is because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider it, and the complainant may go to court if they seek financial compensation.

East Cambridgeshire District Council (21 017 378)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not respond appropriately to reports made by the complainant about her tenant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.