Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a council tax exemption because the complainant can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council will not award an unoccupied property exemption.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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. This includes disputes about entitlement to exemptions and discounts.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I found out that the Council will treat Mr X’s representations as an appeal and then signpost him to the Valuation Tribunal. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Council tax exemption

6. A property is exempt from council tax if it is unoccupied and occupation is prohibited by law (class G exemption).
7. If there is a dispute about an exemption the person can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The law says the person must pay the council tax, as billed, pending the outcome of the appeal. If they win the appeal the Council will make a refund.

What happened

8. Mr X bought an empty property. Mr X plans to demolish and then re-build the property.
9. Mr X applied for a class G exemption. The Council said it would only award the exemption if the housing department served a prohibition order. The Council inspected the property and found it was empty and surrounded by security fencing. The Council decided not to award the exemption because the property was already secured and there was no occupation to prohibit. There would also be no occupation to prohibit once the property had been demolished.
10. The Council suggested Mr X could contact the Valuation Office, which is not part of the Council, to ask if the property could be de-listed from council tax.
11. Mr X has not paid any council tax for this property. The Council served a court summons. It has since withdrawn the summons and the costs.
12. I asked the Council if it will facilitate an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It has agreed to treat the representations Mr X has already made as an appeal. If the Council does not change its decision about entitlement to the exemption it will send Mr X an appeal decision that will tell him how he can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

Assessment

13. I will not start an investigation because Mr X can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if the Council does not change its decision. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about council tax exemptions.
14. Mr X says the Council should have signposted him to the Valuation Tribunal rather than suggesting he apply to de-register the property from council tax. I will not investigate this issue because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. This is because Mr X will be able to use his appeal rights and because he has not incurred any costs. In addition, the Council withdrew the summons even though the law says people should pay, as billed, pending the resolution of any dispute about council tax liability. Mr X says the Council wasted his time by not directing him to the tribunal but this does not represent sufficient injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

15. I will not start an investigation because Mr X can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman