North Northamptonshire Council (25 005 980)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax support. This is because the Council has agreed to remedy the injustice to Mr X by considering his review request and providing his appeal rights.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council wrongly decided he was not entitled to council tax support for a five-week period and it is now seeking payment of council tax from him. This is causing him stress and anxiety.
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 the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice. This is because Mr X appears to have challenged the Council’s council tax support decision. However, the Council did not consider his dispute, and instead it responded to it as a complaint. We would not expect Mr X to have to request a review of the decision twice.
- We therefore asked the Council to write to Mr X responding to his review request once it has considered it. The Council should provide details of his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
Agreed Action
- The Council agreed to respond to Mr X’s review request and fully explain the reasons for its decision within a month of our decision. The Council should provide details of his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council agreed to resolve it by providing a response to Mr X’s review request and explaining his appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman