Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s assessment of his liability for council tax and his entitlement to council tax support. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because it falls outside our jurisdiction as Mr B had appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council has incorrectly calculated his council tax liability and his entitlement to council tax support during a period of unemployment. This has impacted on him financially and mentally.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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 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

6. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and the Council. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered the information he gave.

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What I found

7. Following bills received from the Council for an outstanding council tax liability from previous years, Mr B contacted the Council in June 2019 to dispute what it said he owed.
8. The Council treated his contact as a request for an appeal and in August 2019 it revised its calculation in his favour, setting out the figures it had used in its calculation of council tax support.
9. The Council advised Mr B that if he disagreed with its decision he could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It says it did not hear from him again until he advised it he had sent a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Assessment

10. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr B’s complaint. As we would reasonably have expected him to have made use of his right of appeal to the tribunal his complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.
11. In responding to my draft decision, Mr B provided evidence of his contact with the Council in 2016 and 2017 where he disputes its decisions on his council tax liability. However, in line with the restriction noted at paragraph 5, these events are too old to be investigated now as Mr B would have known of the problem at the time. The evidence he provided of contact with the Council in 2019 is prior to its recalculation and notification letter sent in August 2019.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it falls outside our jurisdiction as Mr B had appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman