Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed the complainant’s benefits. This is because the complainant can use her review and appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, says that the Council has miscalculated her earnings, which means that its assessment for housing benefit and council tax support has not been made correctly. Miss X would like the Council to reassess her benefits.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Miss X including her comments in response to my draft decision. I also considered information provided by the Council, the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and Miss X’s previous LGO complaint.

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My assessment

7. Miss X disagrees with recent decisions made by the Council in relation to her housing benefit and council tax support. She does not think the amounts awarded are correct because of how the Council assessed her income.
8. We will not investigate this complaint because Miss X can ask the Council to review its decisions. Once the Council has reviewed the matter, if Miss X disagrees with its decision she can appeal to the relevant tribunal.
9. Miss X says we investigated a similar complaint she had brought to our service. We investigated the previous complaint because the Council had not processed her review and appeal requests correctly. For this complaint, however, there is no evidence to suggest Miss X has requested a review or appeal.
10. The correct way to dispute housing benefit and council tax support decisions is through the review and appeals process. Our service does not make benefit decisions and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider benefit disputes.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because Miss X can ask the Council to review its decisions. If Miss X remains unhappy with the Council’s decisions, she can appeal to The Social Entitlement Chamber and The Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman