Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to communicate with her about her application for council tax reduction. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate where the substantive matter is outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to communicate with her about her request for council tax reduction. Ms X wants the Council to pay her a financial remedy for the distress caused by failing to respond.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
5. 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The Council wrote to Ms X in July 2025, stating it would contact her about her request for council tax reduction. The Council has provided evidence that this matter was registered with the Valuation Tribunal in October 2025. This is the body responsible for considering disagreements about council tax reduction.
9. We cannot investigate whether Ms X is eligible for council tax reduction. That is because the Valuation Tribunal is considering this, therefore, the law says we cannot investigate.
10. We will not investigate the Council’s communication with Ms X for the following reasons:
• It is not a good use of public resources to investigate where the substantive matter is outside our jurisdiction.
• The delay between July and October is not so significant to justify our involvement.
• The Council has progressed the matter with the Valuation Tribunal, therefore any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate where the substantive matter is outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman