City of York Council (21 011 910)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s enforcement of a council tax debt whilst he was appealing against their decision. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and he has appealed to a Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s enforcement of a council tax debt whilst he was appealing against their decision.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
- Mr X says that his property was uninhabitable and should not have been liable for a council tax charge. He says that he appealed to a Valuation Tribunal but the Council pursued legal action against him despite this.
- The Valuation Tribunal website says that a person should continue to pay the disputed council tax charge whilst the appeal process in ongoing. The Council’s actions in pursuing arrears was not therefore fault.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate any complaint about a dispute which is being appealed to a Valuation Tribunal.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because he appealed to a Valuation Tribunal and there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman