Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Council tax payments and liability. Ms X has already appealed to the Valuation Tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate. Nor will we investigate the Council’s billing because it is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council miscalculated her council tax support and did not tell her how it calculated the Council tax she owed.
2. Ms X said this led to the Council taking higher payments without notice which caused a negative impact to her health.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
6. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating or if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Ms X complained the Council’s billing was at fault, because it did not tell her how it calculated the Council tax she was liable to pay. Ms X also complained about a dispute on how the Council changed the Council tax deductions she was eligible for.
10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s billing process. The evidence shows it set out her liabilities which was available to her on her account.
11. Furthermore, Ms X has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal about two matters in dispute. In considering the information available, None of Ms X’s remaining complaint are separable from her appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
12. As set out in paragraph four, we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter.
13. For this reason, we cannot investigate this complaint.
14. Finally, we will not consider Ms X’s complaint the Council’s standard of communication about the matter. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures and communication, if we cannot deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has already appealed to the Valuation Tribunal and therefore the law says we cannot investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman