Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s council tax support. This is because Mr X had a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to use it.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council removed council tax support from his account, resulting in backdated arrears, and refused his request for discretionary relief under Section 13a of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.. He says the Council failed to act on information about his entitlement to the support sooner and gave contradictory information about its use of third party data. He also complains it issued bills and payment demands which did not match the agreed payment arrangements.

Back to top

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 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 we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on Council tax support or reduction.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

8. The Council removed council tax support from Mr X’s account in March 2025 as it found he had been working and was therefore no longer entitled to it. Mr X suggests the Council could have made this decision sooner and does not accept its explanation that it could not request information from third parties, as this is what it relied on to determine he was no longer eligible.
9. Any dispute about whether the Council should recover the overpayment is a matter for the Valuation Tribunal. Mr X may also appeal to the Tribunal against the Council’s decision not to award discretionary relief. The Tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why Mr X could not have appealed in this case and these issues therefore fall outside our jurisdiction.
10. While I appreciate Mr X believes the Council could have identified the overpayment sooner I have seen no evidence to show this is the case. It was Mr X’s responsibility to notify the Council of any changes in his circumstances which may affect his entitlement and the Council acted on the information it received at the point it received it.
11. I will not investigate Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s billing and payment demands as part of this complaint because it appears the issue arose later on in the process and was not the subject of Mr X’s complaint. The law says the Council must have an opportunity to respond to a complaint before we can consider it, so if Mr X wishes to pursue the matter he should make a new complaint to the Council. If, once he has exhausted this process, he remains unhappy, he may refer the matter back to us to consider as a new complaint. We will then assess the complaint and decide if there are good reasons to investigate. As part of this process we will consider the injustice Mr X claims from this issue.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal which it would have been reasonable for him to use.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman