Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council handled the complainant’s Council Tax Reduction. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Ms X could have used her appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about the way the Council has managed her Council Tax Reduction (CTR). She does not think it has been calculated correctly, is unhappy the Council keeps changing the amount, and says the Council has not answered all her questions. Ms X wants the Council to properly answer all her questions and pay compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and CTR.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained to the Council that it kept making new CTR decisions and changing her council tax bills. She also questioned if the Council had awarded the correct amount of CTR.
7. In response the Council explained that every time her income changes it has to reassess her CTR and issue a new bill. It said her income had changed 12 times which had caused frequent changes to the council tax. It explained that when her income increases the CTR falls and it issues a new council tax bill for a higher amount. The Council said that Ms X is not currently entitled to CTR but she has a payment plan in place for the arrears. The Council apologised for not replying to some emails.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council has explained why Ms X’s CTR and council tax keep changing and it has answered her questions. Ms X is dissatisfied with the replies but it is not clear what more the Council could add.
9. I also will not start an investigation because Ms X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal if she did not think the Council had calculated her CTR correctly. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider CTR disputes.

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Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Ms X could have appealed to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman