London Borough of Hillingdon (21 007 742)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to provide Ms X with an audio recording of her council tax bill. This is because the Council has now sent a recording and will be doing so for future bills.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complained that her request for an audio recording of her council tax bill had not been met by the Council. This meant she did not know its details properly or if she was paying the right amount.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X has a visual impairment and asked the Council to send her an audio recording of her council tax bill because she could not see it properly.
- There was delay by the Council in arranging for this to be done but it has now sent out a recording of the bill. It apologised to Ms X for the long delay, explaining that part of the reason had been due to technological problems but that it would now be able to send future bills to her in this way and to any other council taxpayers who wanted it.
- While I note the delay in providing the audio recording, the Council has now taken appropriate action and no useful purpose would be served by an investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has now sent an audio recording of her council tax bill to her and will be doing so for future bills.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman