Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about a historic council tax debt. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and now investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms B, complains the Council has incorrectly held her liable for council tax and deducted money from her pension to pay the arrears. Ms B also complains the Council has said it will pass the remaining debt to enforcement agents and is harassing her.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended) The Department for Work and Pensions, rather than the Council, decides if deductions can be made from benefits to pay council tax arrears.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information Ms B provided and the complaint correspondence between Ms B, her representative at a charity and the Council. I sent a draft decision to Ms B and considered the comments she made in reply before I made my final decision.

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What I found

7. The complaint relates to arrears of council tax for the tax years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. Ms B says she should not have been liable for council tax for these years because she had been in receipt of pension credit. Ms B also says she was no longer living at the property in question and the Council knew this because it had re-housed her in temporary accommodation.
8. The magistrates court granted the Council a liability order to recover the unpaid council tax in November 2008.
9. In 2009, the Council applied to the DWP to take deductions from Ms B’s pension towards her council tax arrears. The DWP deducted money from Ms B’s pension until October 2018 and passed the money to the Council. There were still £136.93 in arrears when the DWP stopped making deductions.
10. After the DWP stopped the deductions, the Council contacted Ms B and arranged a payment of £27 per month to clear the outstanding arrears. Ms B has not paid this to date and says the Council is now threatening to take further recovery action, such as passing the outstanding debt to enforcement agents. Ms B disputes her liability for the council tax, disputes the payments she has made through the attachment of benefit order and wants the Council to cancel the remaining debt and repay the money that has been deducted from her benefits.
11. While Ms B considers the Council has incorrectly held her liable for council tax, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because:
• The complaint is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. It is over 11 years since the court granted the liability order confirming it was satisfied the council tax debt was payable by Ms B. The DWP deducted payments from Ms B’s pension for nearly 10 years. There are no good reasons for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and now consider complaints about these matters because a considerable length of time has now passed
• I note Ms B says she did not know the deductions were for council tax arrears until relatively recently, but these were enquiries she could have made far sooner when the deductions first commenced
• Also, the Ombudsman could not challenge the magistrate’s court’s decision that Ms B was liable for the council tax debt. By granting a liability order, the court was satisfied Ms B was liable for the council tax at the property in question and was liable for the unpaid council tax
• Regulations allow councils to apply to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to take deductions from benefits towards a summonsed council tax debt. Councils obtain a liability order from the court and then provide details to the DWP. The DWP will decide if deductions can be made. The Ombudsman cannot investigate the DWP’s decision to agree to deduct money from Ms B’s pension credit. And there was no requirement for Ms B to consent to the deductions for council tax debt
• If Ms B has a new complaint about the way the Council is seeking to recover the remaining arrears now the DWP has stopped the deductions from her benefit, she will need to contact the Council to discuss the payment arrangement. If Ms B remains dissatisfied, she can raise a new complaint with the Council and then the Ombudsman. But for the reasons explained above, the Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint about whether the council tax debt is properly due.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and now investigate.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman