East Riding of Yorkshire Council (24 022 845)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax support
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Nov 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to backdate Mrs X’s Council Tax Reduction further. This is because Mrs X could have reasonably used her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council will not backdate Council Tax Reduction (CTR) to cover December 2022 to March 2024. Mrs X says the Council did not invoice her promptly and she now has to pay Council Tax for that period.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X says the Council should backdate her CTR for longer than the three months it has agreed to. Mrs X complains the Council did not tell her about her Council Tax liability promptly.
- The Council told Mrs X about her right to appeal against its decision to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council explained this during the two-month period when Mrs X could appeal.
- Therefore, the restriction in paragraph 3 applies to this complaint. The law expressly provides this appeal route for such matters, so we normally expect people to use it. The Valuation Tribunal has the relevant expertise, can overturn the Council’s decision if it sees fit and can make a binding order. Mrs X knew of the appeal right before it expired. Appealing is free of charge and relatively simple. In all the circumstances, it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have used her appeal right.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she could reasonably have used her right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman