Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mr X’s council tax account. The court considered council tax liability, council tax support decisions carry appeal rights and it is reasonable to expect him to use them, and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating the council tax hardship fund decision.

The complaint

1. Mr X, represented by Ms Y, complained that his council tax support and council tax hardship fund applications were not considered properly by the Council.
2. Mr X said the Council started court proceedings about council tax liability.
3. Mr X also said that this has led to him leaving his home and becoming homeless.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
6. 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)
7. 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

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
10. I considered the Council Tax Reductions Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012.

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My assessment

11. The Council sent Mr X a council tax bill in 2024 when it was informed that he had moved into his property. Several months later, Mr X submitted council tax support and council tax hardship fund applications to the Council. The Council then started court proceedings against Mr X about council tax liability. At this point, Mr X had not paid any council tax.
12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s application to court about council tax liability. This is because the law says we cannot investigate complaints about the start of court proceedings or what happened in court.
13. The Council told Mr’s X representative in early 2025 that it needed more information to properly consider his applications.
14. Mr X complained to the Council that its insistence on extra information was unreasonable and unachievable. The Council informed Mr X that it was adhering to the Council Tax Reductions Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012 when deciding what information it required to properly consider his applications.
15. I have reviewed the regulations. The Council does not appear to be at fault in seeking the extra information from Mr X.
16. Mr X did not produce the extra information that the Council requested, and so it closed both his council tax support and council tax hardship fund claims. The Council informed Mr X’s representative that he could appeal the decision not to award him council tax support via the Valuation Tribunal.
17. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to exercise his appeal rights.
18. The Council told Mr X that the council tax hardship fund is discretionary to the Council and does not carry appeal rights for Valuation Tribunal. The Council invited Mr X to provide information to it if he felt its decision was wrong.
19. Having considered all the correspondence, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify us investigating this complaint.

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Final decision

20. We will not investigate ’s complaint because Mr X’s complaint. The court considered council tax liability, council tax support decisions carry appeal rights and it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use them, and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating the council tax hardship fund support decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman