Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with his application for council tax reduction. This is because matters appealed to the Valuation Tribunal are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The Council has now complied with the tribunal’s ruling, and it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would achieve anything more. If Mr X disagrees with the Council’s latest decision about council tax reduction, it is not unreasonable for him to submit a fresh appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about how the Council dealt with his application for council tax reduction. Mr X successfully appealed to the Valuation Tribunal, but he says the Council has delayed in implementing the tribunal’s ruling. Mr X would like compensation and the Council punished.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

6. Mr X owns a property in which he lives and rents out rooms. Mr X asked the Council to backdate council tax reduction on the basis his only income was from the rent paid by tenants, and he was not employed elsewhere. The Council refused on the basis the rental income should be treated as “income other than earnings.”
7. Mr X appealed to the Valuation Tribunal and asked it to make an order requiring the Council to refund any overpayment of council tax, interest, and damages for “stress, anxiety and inconvenience”. The tribunal found in Mr X’s favour and ordered the Council to recalculate his entitlement to council tax reduction. In its ruling, the tribunal explained it cannot make any order in respect of costs and has no jurisdiction over matters such as refunds.
8. The original issue Mr X appealed to the tribunal is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. We have no powers to consider a complaint if someone appealed to a tribunal. The tribunal declined to award Mr X compensation, and this is not something we can consider. While Mr X might feel the tribunal has not remedied all his injustice, he has used the alternative remedy available to him. The matter is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.
9. Mr X says the Council has failed to comply with the tribunal’s ruling that it should recalculate his council tax reduction within two weeks. This is something the Ombudsman could investigate.
10. The Council says that five days after the tribunal’s decision, it requested the information from Mr X it needed to comply with tribunal’s ruling. It could not accept the information supplied by Mr X and contacted him the following day. Mr X provided revised information on 07 July 2019, and the Council provided a revised decision on 01 August 2019. The Council has responded to Mr X’s complaints and it has now provided him with a fresh decision about his council tax support. This decision has fresh appeal rights.
11. I understand Mr X has found the process frustrating. But on balance, I do not think there is enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation. The Council has told the Ombudsman it took longer to reach a decision than it would have liked. But it needed to be sure it had the correct information to calculate Mr X’s council tax bill. If Mr X disagrees with the Council’s latest decision, then it is not unreasonable for him to appeal to the tribunal. The Ombudsman has no powers to punish councils and so we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants. An investigation by the Ombudsman is not therefore appropriate.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. Part of the complaint is outside our jurisdiction and the Council has now complied with the tribunal’s ruling. If Mr X disagrees with the Council’s latest decision, it is not unreasonable for him to submit a fresh appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman