Summary: Mr X complains the council tax band of his home is too high. We cannot investigate as this decision is not made by the Council but by the Valuation Office Agency. We have no remit to investigate its decisions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the council tax band of his property is too high and asks us to review it. Mr X feels he is paying too much council tax.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.

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What I found

4. Mr X feels the council tax band of his home, Band F, is too high. Mr X says his house is classed as semi-detached but is not so in the traditional sense. Mr X says that nearby properties are charged a lower level of council tax by the Council but he feels they would have been valued higher when bandings were set.
5. Mr X has asked the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the body which decides bandings, to conduct a review. It has done this but confirmed the banding as F. Mr X is unhappy with this and asks us to conduct a further review.

Analysis

6. The VOA is the body which sets council tax bands and can conduct reviews. We are not able to do this or investigate decisions of the VOA as they are not a body within our jurisdiction. The Council does not decide which council tax band a property should be in but levies the relevant tax once the VOA has made such a decision.

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate as the decision Mr X complains about is made by the VOA and we have no jurisdiction over it.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman