Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his council tax payments and its inadequate offer of compensation. We will not investigate the complaint because Mr X’s injustice is limited and an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to lead to a significantly different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council was at fault in 2019 and again in 2020 in its handling of matters relating to the council tax accounts for his home and for the property he rents out. He says he has suffered financial loss because of the time taken to resolve matters and he has been put to time and trouble which has caused upset and distress. Instead of the £25 compensation offered by the Council, he seeks at least £100.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• 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)

3. 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

5. In 2019, following a complaint involving the transfer of credit between the council tax accounts of the property Mr X owns and rents out and the property he lives in, the Council paid him £25 compensation.
6. In 2020 Mr X set up a direct debit to pay council tax for his home address. Due to a late review of what had happened in 2019, and the removal of a recovery hold which had been placed on his account at that time, problems arose with his council tax payments and the direct debit. There were failings by the Council in the way it had handled matters which meant Mr X was inconvenienced and put to time and trouble.
7. Mr X complained to the Council and it addressed the complaint under its complaints procedure. It set out in some detail what had occurred and why and it acknowledged there had been delay and some errors in the administration of his account. In recognition of this it offered Mr X £25 compensation. It also confirmed it had passed its complaint findings on to the Team Manger so that lessons from the case could be learnt and similar problems avoided in the future.
8. Dissatisfied with the Council’s offer, and seeking at least £100 compensation, Mr X complained to us.

Assessment

9. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to the complaint from 2019. Events from this earlier complaint happened too long ago to be investigated now and I see no grounds which warrant exercising discretion to do so.
10. We are a publicly funded body and have an obligation to use the funds allocated to us in an effective, efficient and economic way. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and we will generally not investigate complaints where the injustice caused to the complainant is limited.
11. With regard to events from 2020, while the Council’s fault is noted, it has apologised and made an offer of compensation. Mr X believes his injustice warrants more than £25 but even if we were to investigate, we would be unlikely to propose a remedy significantly higher than that already offered.
12. In response to my draft decision Mr X says what the Council did in 2019 was against HMRC regulations but he could have complained to us about this at the time. Mr X also says he has recently had to spend time setting up his payment plan for his current bill. It this is a matter he wishes to pursue he can complain about it to the Council who must first be given the opportunity to respond before we would consider it.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X’s injustice is limited and an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to lead to a significantly different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman