Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about errors the Council made in setting up the complainant’s council tax account. This is because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about the problems she had setting up her council tax for a new home. She wants the Council to waive the council tax bill of £443.

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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 Council has provided a fair response; or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s response. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Ms X moved into a new build property in mid-December 2019. She called the Council in December to arrange to pay the council tax. She was told there was nothing she could do until the property had a postcode. Ms X kept calling the Council until, on 27 February, she was told she owed £443. Ms X found out the Council wrote to her on 4 February about setting up a provisional council tax band. Ms X did not receive the letter and says the Council did not mention provisional banding during any of the calls.
5. Ms X complained. In response the Council apologised and said the first officer Ms X spoke to in December should have discussed setting up a provisional band so that council tax could be paid. The Council said this did not happen because Ms X spoke to a new member of staff. The Council has provided training to the officer.
6. The Council said that when Ms X called during February she should have been told about the letter. The Council also said that Ms X should have been told she would be billed from when she moved in and the council tax would need to be paid by 31 March. The Council said that training needs had been highlighted to the council tax service. The Council arranged for Ms X to pay the £443 by adding it to the bill for 2020/21. This means the amount can be spread over 12 months.
7. Ms X says she did all she could to register for council tax and the way the Council handled it has been very stressful. Ms X wants the Council to waive the £443.

Assessment

8. Ms X did nothing wrong while the Council did not handle the situation well. It failed to tell Ms X about provisional payments and it did not keep her properly informed during subsequent phone calls. However, while there was fault by the Council, I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
9. The Council has provided a fair response. It has explained what went wrong, apologised, arranged staff training and changed the payment requirements for the £443 so it is spread out rather than needing to be paid by 31 March. This is a fair and proportionate response and there is nothing more I would expect the Council to do.
10. I also will not start an investigation because, once the remedy is taken into account, there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation. In reaching this view I have taken into account that Ms X was liable for council tax from when she moved in and benefitted from council services. In addition, Ms X was clearly aware she would need to pay council tax so it is reasonable to expect that she would have put some money aside for when she did get the bill. Finally, even if the Council had given Ms X the correct advice in late December, it would probably have been February before Ms X received the bill. But, in this scenario, she would have been required to pay all the council tax by the end of March.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman