Summary: Mr D complained about how the Council handled his council tax account. He also says the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments and delayed responding to his complaints. We find the Council was at fault as it delayed responding to the complaint. It also failed to address all the issues raised in the complaint and failed to properly investigate whether it had enough information to backdate Mr D’s council tax reduction claim. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address Mr D’s injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr D complained about how the Council handled his council tax account. He says the Council failed to deal with his council tax reduction claim and it also failed respond to information he sent about his housemate moving out of the property. He also says the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments and delayed responding to his complaint.
2. Mr D says the matter has caused distress and upset.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr D submitted with his complaint. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
6. Mr D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Council tax

7. Council tax is a tax made on domestic properties. Residents of dwellings are usually liable for council tax from the date they move into a property.
8. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the council will send the liable person a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
9. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
10. Council Tax Reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a reduction of the amount of council tax payable. Since 2013, each council is responsible for running their own local CTR schemes for help with council tax. The amount of discount awarded is based on a claimant’s savings, family make up, and income. It is paid by reducing the council tax owed and issuing a new council tax bill.

The Council’s complaints procedure

11. The Council aims to respond to complaints at stage one within 10 working days and complaints at stage two within 30 working days.

Reasonable adjustments

12. The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and applies to any body which carries out a public function. It aims to make sure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
13. Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to people accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them.
14. The duty is ‘anticipatory’. This means service providers cannot wait until a disabled person wants to use their services but must think in advance about what disabled people with a range of impairments might reasonably need.

What happened

15. Mr D applied for CTR in June 2020. He was living with two other housemates at the time (Miss E and Mr F). Mr F was shortly due to move out of the property.
16. The Council emailed Mr D a few days later and asked for evidence of his benefits and proof of identification for Mr F.
17. Mr D says he called the Council in July and told it Mr F was moving out. However, there is no evidence of this.
18. The Council wrote to Mr D on 21 July and said his CTR claim was unsuccessful because he had not provided it with the information it requested.
19. Mr F moved out of the property on 27 August. He completed a moving out form on 22 September and stated everyone in the property was moving out. The Council therefore closed the account.
20. Mr D’s landlord contacted him in January 2021. He said the Council had contacted him and asked him to pay for an empty property.
21. Mr D contacted the Council on 19 January and said only Mr F had moved out of the property. He said he wanted to apply for CTR, and he needed help. The Council’s notes state it transferred him to its welfare department to discuss the matter further.
22. The Council sent Mr D a bill for the period from 27 August 2020 to 31 March 2021 on the same day.
23. Mr D complained to the Council on 20 January about how it had handled his council tax account. He also said it was difficult for someone with mental health difficulties to use the online system.
24. Mr D called the Council on 26 January and asked if he could transfer his CTR to his new account. The Council said he would need to make a new claim. Mr D said he could not do it online because of his disability. He also said other Council officers said they would make reasonable adjustments for him. The Council said he would need to speak to its welfare team.
25. The Council responded to Mr D’s complaint on the same day. It said it closed the account because Mr F had stated on the form everyone was moving out of the property. It told Mr D he could visit its website if he wanted to make a CTR claim. It said its self-service portal enabled applicants to update their council tax records. Finally, it said if he believed he was entitled to a discount or exemption on mental health grounds, he would need to follow the link to the website and download an application form. It also provided him with the telephone number for its welfare team.
26. Mr D called the Council on 18 February and said the Council had still failed to make any reasonable adjustments. He asked for it to backdate his CTR claim to July 2020. The Council said it would send an email to its welfare team to see if an officer could provide him with assistance in filling out the forms. It also provided him with the number for its welfare team. It said it would refer his complaint to stage two of its complaints procedure.
27. The Council sent an email to its welfare team on the same day. It asked a member of staff to call Mr D to discuss matters further.
28. Mr D called the Council on 2 March and said he had not heard from its welfare team or had a response to his complaint. He said the Council provided him with the wrong telephone number for its welfare team. The Council said it had provided him with the correct number, and it provided it again. It also said he would receive a response to his complaint within 30 working days.
29. Mr D contacted the welfare team on the same day. An officer arranged to speak with him on 12 March.
30. An officer from the welfare team helped Mr D complete a CTR claim form on 12 March.
31. Mr D and Miss E contacted the Council on the same day and asked it to backdate their claim to when they originally applied for CTR.
32. The Council awarded Mr D CTR from 17 March. However, it did not backdate the claim to July 2020.
33. As Mr D and Miss E had not paid their full council tax, the Council issued a final notice on 19 June 2021. It told them if they did not pay it would issue a court summons for the unpaid amount.
34. The Council issued the court summons on 20 July. It applied recovery costs of £125.
35. Mr D called the Council on 29 July to chase for a response to his complaint. The Council apologised that it had not responded to his complaint and confirmed it would remove the recovery costs as a gesture of goodwill. Mr D said he was unhappy with the way it had handled his complaint.
36. The Council issued its stage two response on 30 July. It apologised for the delay in responding. It said it had not received any information regarding the change in occupancy of the property before September 2020. It also said it asked Mr D to provide evidence he made an earlier application for CTR, but he had not done so. It attached a form for him to complete in relation to his mental health impairment. It also said he could contact its welfare team if he needed help completing the online forms.
37. Miss E emailed the Council on 5 August and said it had not responded to Mr D’s complaint about it not making reasonable adjustments. The Council responded on 7 October and said the benefit team leader had previously provided his personal email address to discuss the CTR claim. It also said if they required assistance, they could contact its welfare team.
38. When the Council responded to my enquiries, it realised it had not properly investigated Mr D’s request from March 2021 for the CTR claim to be backdated. It has now done so, and it has awarded Mr D CTR from June 2020.

Back to top

Analysis

39. Mr D says he called the Council in July 2020 and told it Mr F was moving out of the property. Therefore, he could not provide any information about Mr F for his CTR claim. There is no evidence this telephone conversation took place. As the Council had heard nothing further from Mr D, it was entitled to refuse his CTR application. It was also entitled to close the council tax account as Mr F stated everyone was moving out of the property.
40. Mr D says he told the Council in June 2020 that he struggles to use its online portal and therefore he needed it to make reasonable adjustments. He says the Council failed to make any reasonable adjustments.
41. I have not seen any evidence to show Mr D asked the Council asked to make reasonable adjustments in June 2020. Instead, the evidence shows Mr D told the Council in phone calls in January 2021 that he struggled to use the online system because of his disability. The Council’s case notes of the call of 19 January 2021 state it transferred him to its welfare team to assist further. It is however unclear whether the transfer was successful because there is nothing in the welfare team’s records to suggest a call took place.
42. The Council again advised Mr D in the call again on 26 January about its welfare team. It provided him with the telephone number in its response to his complaint on the same day. Therefore, I consider at that stage Mr D could have contacted the welfare team to get further assistance. There is no evidence he did this.
43. The Council emailed its welfare team on 18 February 2021 and asked for an officer to contact Mr D. When Mr D had not heard anything for nearly two weeks, he called the Council again on 2 March and chased for a response. He called the welfare team himself on the same day, and an officer assisted him on 12 March to complete a CTR claim form.
44. The delay in the welfare team contact contacting Mr D is fault. However, I do not consider this caused him a significant injustice. This is because the Council provided with the telephone number for the welfare team on 26 January. He should have contacted the team directly much sooner if he wanted assistance.
45. The Council significantly delayed dealing with Mr D’s complaint. This is fault, which caused Mr D frustration and he was put to time and trouble in chasing a response. It should have dealt with his stage two complaint by 1 April 2021. It did not do so until nearly four months later on 30 July 2021. The Council apologised for the delay. However, I note the Council did not address Mr D’s complaint about its failure to make reasonable adjustments in the stage two response. This meant Miss E had to email the Council on Mr D’s behalf on 5 August 2021 and chase for a response about this. It took the Council two months to respond, which caused further frustration.
46. The Council also failed to properly investigate Mr D’s request for his CTR to be backdated when he originally made the claim. This is fault. It has now done so and awarded Mr D CTR from 22 June 2020. If it had done so much sooner, it is likely it would not have resulted in the court summons and therefore it could have avoided causing Mr D further frustration and upset. This is because the amount Mr D has to pay has reduced by a significant amount. It is likely he would have settled his council tax account much sooner if the Council Mr D had acted without fault.

Back to top

Agreed action

47. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 1 April 2022 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Mr D.
• Pay Mr D £150 to reflect his time and trouble and the unnecessary frustration he has suffered.

Back to top

Final decision

48. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mr D an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman