Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to backdate his council tax reduction to February 2024. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council issuing a court summons when he had not received the council tax bills. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to investigate these matters.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council would not backdate his council tax reduction to February 2024.
2. Mr X also complained the Council issued a court summons to him, but he had not received the council tax bills the Council had been sending him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s housing provider intended to help Mr X claim council tax reduction. It mistakenly did not do so. Mr X later realised the council tax reduction application had not been made, so he applied.
8. The Council awarded the reduction but refused to backdate it. Mr X told the Council about the housing provider’s error, and the Council then agreed the reduction should be backdated.
9. The Council told Mr X in April 2025 that because of the mistake, he had a good reason for not making the council tax reduction application earlier. The Council agreed to backdate his application for two months from the date of the application.
10. Mr X wanted the Council to backdate the application to February 2024, which is when the mistake happened. However, the Council backdated the application for two months, which is the maximum the Council’s council tax reduction scheme allows for where the applicant is not a pensioner, as in Mr X’s case. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to investigate this matter.
11. Mr X also complained the Council had sent him a court summons, when he had not received the council tax bills the Council sent him.
12. Mr X had signed up to receive his bills electronically but did not set up an online account to view the bills. That was not the Council’s fault. Mr X received the summons because the Council sent it by post.
13. On balance, it is likely that Mr X would have received the bills if he had created an online account. So, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to investigate this matter.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman