Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to end its council tax discount scheme for the over 65s. We will not investigate as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to end its council tax discount scheme for the over 65s. Mr X says this discriminates against him and that he has lost out financially.

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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 it is unlikely we would find fault, or it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and sent him my draft decision on it for his comments. I have considered the comments Mr X made in response in reaching this final decision.

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What I found

5. The Council operated a discretionary scheme which offered a council tax discount for residents aged over 65. It decided this financial year to end this scheme, for new applicants, but to protect discounts for those who already qualified. The Council took this decision as it concluded it was not financially viable to bring new households into the scheme, going forward.
6. Mr X complains about this decision, as now he has reached 65, he has lost out financially. Mr X feels it is unfair that the Council will continue to give the discount to those residents who qualified under the discretionary scheme, before it was ended, and this this constitutes direct discrimination against him.
7. Before ending the scheme, the Council carried out an Equality and Human Rights Impact assessment. It concluded that whilst some people could be financially impacted, ie future applicants to the scheme, those in financial hardship would still be able to apply for council tax support, a scheme put in place by law to assist those on low income or benefits. The Council concluded that this provided a ‘safety net’ for those who may be financially, negatively affected by the closure of the scheme. The Council also operates a discretionary scheme, where it can consider a person’s individual circumstances to see if a council tax discount should be awarded, for those people who do not qualify for council tax support.
8. After carrying out its impact assessment, the Council decided to end the scheme to new applicants. It decided that it was though able to maintain those discounts already awarded.

Analysis

9. The Council considered its duties in respect of the impact on older people of the decision to end the scheme and was entitled, after so doing, to decide to end the discretionary scheme. We cannot be critical of this decision unless there is evidence of fault in how the decision was reached. I have not seen evidence of such fault in the information I have seen.
10. We cannot determine if the Council’s decision breaches equalities legislation as only the courts could make such a finding.
11. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in the way it decided to end its discretionary discount scheme. We cannot determine if this decision breaches equalities legislation as only the courts can make such a determination.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman