Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s council tax support and council tax. This is because the complainant could have used her appeal rights and there is nothing we could achieve by carrying out an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council is charging too much council tax. Ms X wants a refund and for the Council to stop sending council tax bills for money she does not owe.

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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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(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 council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes a Council Tax Support (CTS) decision. I considered our Assessment Code and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

6. In May 2021 the Council awarded CTS of about £16 a week. This means Ms X has to pay about £4 a week in council tax. The CTS decision letter told Ms X she could appeal if she disagreed with the decision.
7. Ms X says the council tax is too high and does not take into account that she is making a loss from her business. She also says the Council sends different bills.
8. People must pay their council tax as billed. The council tax can be reduced if the person claims CTS.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because we cannot reduce Ms X’s council tax and, if she thinks the CTS decision did not correctly reflect her circumstances, she could have used her appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about CTS. In addition, the Council notified Ms X of her appeal rights. Alternatively, if Ms X’s circumstances have changed, and her income has decreased, then she can report this to the Council and ask for a reassessment. We do not make CTS decisions and we cannot reduce someone’s council tax.
10. Councils issue a new council tax bill if the amount changes perhaps due to a CTS change. Ms X could contact the Council if she is uncertain as to which bill she has to pay.

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Final decision

11. I will not investigate this complaint because Ms X could have appealed to the tribunal and because we could not achieve a meaningful outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman