Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about council tax. We cannot investigate decisions taken in court. In addition, it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X, is unhappy about the amount of council tax claimed from him for the years 2008/2009 and 2010/2011. He has told us the Council has calculated his liability incorrectly and the figures are wrong.

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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 about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman, the information he provided in his support of his complaint and the Council’s response. I also sent Mr X a copy of the draft decision for his comments.

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What I found

6. In 2011 the Council took recovery action and the magistrates made a liability order against Mr X for unpaid council tax of £2,277.27 for the years 2008/2009 and 2010/2011.
7. The Council wrote to Mr X in February 2011 referring to the liability order, confirming he still owed £349.82, and enforcement action would be taken if payment was not made.
8. It sent Mr X council tax bills in July 2019 showing a balance due of £177.34 for 2008/2009 and £325.66 for 2010/2011. It has also told him an amount of £213.18 due for 2010/2011 was not included in the liability order.
9. Mr X complained to the Council in September 2019. He disputed his liability for the amount of £2,277.27. He said he did not owe the balance claimed of £349.82 and the Council should refund the payments he had made of £1,927.45.
10. The Ombudsman has no powers to investigate decisions taken by a court. The decision to issue a liability order against Mr X is not something we can consider. An investigation by the Ombudsman is not therefore appropriate
11. In addition this is a late complaint. The amounts Mr X is disputing have been outstanding since 2011 and before. I have not seen any good reason to accept such a late complaint.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate a decision taken in court and in addition this is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman