Summary: Miss B complained that the Council changed the system she was using for reporting income changes which resulted in the Council not receiving any information for five months and Miss B owing the Council £100. This caused Miss B significant distress and frustration. The Council has offered to put matters right by apologising, waiving the debt and recommending a different way of submitting information in future.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (the Council) in respect of her council tax reduction claim:
• gave her a faulty link to submit details of her universal credit claim every four weeks, so the Council received no information between October 2022 and March 2023;
• failed to tell her it had received her income details from another source enabling it to recalculate her entitlement at the end of March 2023; and
• failed to respond to her complaint properly.
2. As a result of these failings Miss B received a large, unexpected council tax bill at the end of March 2023 which caused her distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Miss B’s income fluctuates from month to month and this affects the amount of council tax reduction she is entitled to. The Council advised Miss B to send her income details on a monthly basis to a service manager who would ensure they were acted on promptly.
7. Miss B sent her income details via the new link on 4 October 2022 which the Council received. It sent her a revised council tax bill dated 17 November 2022.
8. She says she sent emails on 11 November, 2 and 29 December 2022. But she did not send any more after January because she had finished paying her council tax.
9. The Council says it did not receive any more emails from her. It issued a revised council tax reduction notification on 28 March 2023, saying she had been overpaid since the end of October 2022 and owed just over £100.
10. Miss B complained saying she had sent her income details in November, December and January but not in February and March, but had only just received a revised bill. The Council replied on 23 April 2023 saying the overpayment occurred because of changes to her income in February and March which she did not tell the Council about.
11. Miss B disputed this and questioned how the Council knew about her income when it said it had not received her emails. Miss B received a reminder to pay the outstanding balance.
12. The Council responded to her complaint on 19 May 2023. It said it had not received any income information from her since 4 October 2022. It had reviewed its email account and the officer’s personal account, but nothing had been received over the last six months. It concluded that something had gone wrong with the emails but could not say that was to do with fault by the Council. It offered to look into the email issue with her and apologised for the stress and frustration this had caused.
13. Miss B complained to us.
14. In response to my enquiries the Council said it does receive information from the Department for Work and Pensions but due to the volume of information received the Council cannot look at this very quickly. It is currently working on DWP information received in April 2023. It also confirmed it cannot check to see if Miss B’s emails were received as emails and email deletions are only kept for three months.
15. It said Miss B was diligently sending her monthly change notices to the Council but following the change to the email addresses the system broke down. The Council has offered:
• its sincere apologies;
• to write off the outstanding balance of £100.04; and
• to recommend to Miss B that she formally reports income changes via the Council’s online reporting form which automatically imports the information into the Council’s workflow system.

Analysis

16. It is clear the reporting system broke down when a new email address was introduced. The Council is unable to identify whether the problem was due to fault on its part and Miss B accepts she did not send any information in January and February 2023. In these circumstances I consider the Council’s offer provides a reasonable resolution to the complaint.

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Final decision

17. I have completed my investigation as I consider the Council’s proposed action puts right the injustice caused to Miss B by the email problems.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman