Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s use of an Attachment of Earnings Order to recover council tax arrears. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainants, whom I refer to as Mr X and Ms Y, say the Council’s use of an Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) is unfair. They want the Council to cancel the order or reduce it to £150 every four weeks.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainants and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and letters about the arrears. I considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X and Ms Y to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. If someone does not pay their council tax as billed the Council can take them to the magistrates’ court and apply for a liability order. If the court issues a liability order the Council can use an AEO. An AEO requires the employer to make deductions from the person’s pay and pass it to the Council. The level of the deduction is fixed in the regulations.
5. Mr X & Ms Y have council tax arrears for 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22. The court issued a liability order in 2021 for arrears of £3532. The order listed the methods the Council could use to recover the arrears; this included using an AEO.
6. Mr X made a payment plan with the Council. He agreed to pay £125 a month from 27 September. The arrangement letter said the Council would take further recovery action if he did not keep to the plan. Mr X made one payment but only paid £100 in the following month. The Council asked for the missing £25 and said that if the complainants did not pay within seven days the arrangement would be broken.
7. Mr X & Ms Y did not pay so the Council set up an AEO and has received deductions from Mr X’s employer. Mr X tried to challenge the AEO in the county court but that court has no jurisdiction over this issue. Mr X asked the Council to cancel the AEO or reduce it to £150 every four weeks. He complained he had not been notified of the AEO and had sent an email saying he could not pay £125.
8. The Council said it could not reduce the AEO as the amount is set in the regulations. It said it would not cancel the AEO as, prior to the liability order, the complainants had only paid £160 in council tax for 2021/22 and they have substantial arrears. The Council said it had not received an email from them saying they could not pay but it invited them to resend it. The Council explained it had warned them that further action would be taken if they did not keep to the payment plan.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council applied for a liability order because Mr X & Ms Y had arrears. The liability order gave the Council the authority to use an AEO but the Council only did this after it agreed a payment plan which the complainants did not maintain. The Council warned the complainants it would take further action if they not keep to the plan. The Council has correctly explained it cannot reduce the deductions and it has explained why it will not cancel the AEO. As the Council has followed the correct process there is no reason to start an investigation and we cannot tell the Council it must cancel the AEO.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman