Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his claim for a council tax reduction. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has not paid his claim for a council tax reduction from October 2023. He says the Council has lost his documents and denies receiving the required information. He says this has caused him distress and severe financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)).

3. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council unfairly refused his October 2024 claim for a council tax reduction and his request for it to backdate this to October 2023. He was very ill and in hospital, but the Council has not helped him. He says
• the Council requested bank statements as evidence of his income and capital
• he has provided bank statements five times, but the Council denies this.
• he does not have any income due to a problem with his Universal Credit claim.
• He does not have a phone or internet access but the Council ignores this.
• he cannot afford heating or food, and he is being threatened with eviction.
6. In its complaint responses the Council says:
• It cannot assess Mr X’s claim from October 2024 or his backdate request without evidence of his income and savings. It asked for bank statements.
• It has not received the bank statements Mr X says he sent. It asks him to provide details of the officers he handed documents to and evidence of sending documents, such as copies of receipts for recorded delivery letters so it can investigate this further.
• It has offered the support of an officer to help Mr X gather the bank statement evidence. It also gave information about other organisations who could support him to claim a council tax reduction and universal credit.
7. The Council cannot assess council tax reduction without the evidence and information it has requested. It asked Mr X for this and for evidence that he has already provided the requested information. It has also offered to support Mr X in making his claim. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
8. Mr X also complains the Council failed to respond properly to his Subject Access Request. I consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding this matter.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman