The complaint

1. Ms X said she made three council tax reduction claims from May 2025, but the Council failed to assess these. She says the Council’s communication was poor and its online council tax reduction service was inaccessible. The Council also continued enforcement action for council tax arrears when it should have held action due to a Breathing Space Moratorium. She says this caused her distress and affected her mental health.

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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, or

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

3. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended).

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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. Ms X complained to the Council about the matters in paragraph 1.
6. The Council replied that
• It had received Ms X’s change of circumstances forms in May 2025. It advised her to make a new claim on 13 May 2025.
• It apologised that its online council tax reduction service was suspended for four weeks from mid May 2025 due to a technical issue.
• It held recovery action during the ‘Breathing Space’ Moratorium. This scheme pauses debt recovery action so people can seek help from a debt adviser.
• Ms X had council tax arrears of £1978. It sent Ms X a financial assessment form so it could agree an affordable payment plan.
7. Ms X complained further that she had not received the Council’s notification in May 2025 or the financial assessment form. She said she made a second claim in June, but the Council did not refer to this. She said she managed to pay most of her council tax arrears and asked the Council to consider a discretionary write off of the remaining arrears. She said the Council should improve its service.
8. In its final response Council said it was working to ensure its communications were more effective and efficient. The Council said
• it had received Ms X’s payments and there were no outstanding arrears from previous years.
• It received Ms X’s new council tax reduction claim in September and it had now assessed and backdated it to May 2025 when her income reduced.
• it had cancelled enforcement action and removed the fees.
• it had issued an instalment plan for remaining balance for 2025/26.
• it would consider her discretionary council tax reduction application.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely that we would find fault by the Council in the claims process because there is not enough evidence of this.
10. The Council has apologised for the inconvenience during the period its online council tax reduction system was unavailable. It has also recalled the council tax accounts from its enforcement agent and removed fees. It said it would consider Ms X’s discretionary council tax reduction application. We will not investigate because the Council has taken suitable action, and there is no remaining significant injustice.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation, or there is no significant remaining injustice that would justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman