Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about council tax liability and the way the Council contacted her and then dealt with her complaint. It is reasonable to expect Ms B to use her right of appeal to the independent Valuation Tribunal if she disputes the Council’s decision on her liability. And further consideration of Ms B’s remaining complaints would not achieve any more for her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms B, complains a Council enforcement officer contacted her at work to discuss arrears of council tax and this caused distress and affected her employment. Ms B also disputes the Council’s decisions about her liability for council tax and says that when she complained, the same officer she was complaining about responded to her complaint.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or

it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information Ms B provided and the complaint correspondence between the Council and Ms B. I sent a draft decision to Ms B and invited comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

7. Ms B disputes the Council’s decision to hold her liable for council tax. She says a former tenant is liable for the outstanding charges.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate a complaint about the Council’s decision on liability because Ms B has a right of appeal to the independent Valuation Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Ms B to use this right of appeal because it is a free and relatively straightforward process. The Council provided Ms B with information about the Valuation Tribunal in its complaint response and the timescales for making an appeal.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the initial telephone call from an enforcement officer. The Council has explained there is no recording of the call and the Ombudsman could not reach any view about the way the officer spoke with Ms B. Ms B says it was inappropriate for an officer to contact her during the working day, but it was Ms B’s choice to answer the call while she was in a meeting with her manager and supervisor at a job she had just started.
10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint that the officer she initially spoke to then responded to her complaint. The Council has explained Ms B sent her enquiry to the council tax team rather than raising a complaint, but it acknowledges it would have been best practice for the manager of the officer to respond to Ms B. Further consideration of the complaint would not achieve any more for Ms B.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Ms B to use her right of appeal to the independent Valuation Tribunal if she disputes the Council’s decision on her liability. And further consideration of Ms B’s remaining complaints would not achieve any more for her.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman