Summary: Mr X complains that the Council is unfairly refusing to allow him to pay his Council Tax bill for 2021/22 over a longer period of time. The Council is at fault as it delayed in issuing Mr X’s Council Tax bill which denied him the opportunity to pay his Council Tax over a longer period of time and with lower instalments. It is also at fault for failing to give proper consideration to offering an affordable payment plan to Mr X in accordance with Government guidance. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment of £150 to acknowledge the distress caused to him. It has also agreed to arrange an affordable repayment plan with Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council is unfairly refusing to allow a longer period of time in which to pay his Council Tax bill for 2021/22 despite its delay in issuing his Council Tax bill. Mr X says he cannot afford to pay the Council Tax over a small number of instalments.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have:

• Considered the complaint and the information provided by Mr X;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• Invited Mr X and the Council to comment on the draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Government Guidance

5. The Government has provided guidance ‘Collection of Council Tax arrears’ which sets out good practice for local authorities when collecting council tax arrears. Paragraph 2.6 of the guidance provides that local authorities should be willing to negotiate payments at any point in the process and should work with bill payers to agree affordable and sustainable repayment plans which ensure that the debt is paid off within a reasonable period.

What happened

6. Mr X moved to a property in July 2021. Mr X overlooked registering for Council Tax which I understand was due to difficult personal circumstances.
7. In late July 2021 Mr X received a Council Tax enforcement notice for the previous occupier of his property. He wrote his details on the enforcement notice and returned it to the Council. The Council did not take any action on receipt of the returned notice. In response to my enquiries the Council has said officers should have carried out further checks to register the new owner or send an incoming occupier form to Mr X.
8. An enforcement agent visited Mr X in August 2021 to collect the previous occupier’s Council Tax arrears. Mr X explained he was the new occupier. The enforcement agent told Mr X that the Council would contact him.
9. Mr X contacted the Council in November 2021 as he had not received any contact from the Council. The Council issued a bill from the date he moved into the property. The bill was for £744 and the Council asked Mr X to pay four monthly instalments of £186 per month to ensure full payment by the end of the financial year. The Council gave Mr X the option of paying an instalment in November 2021 and then four further instalments but Mr X declined. Instead, Mr X set up a direct debit to pay the Council Tax from December 2021 but then cancelled the direct debit. The Council issued a new Council Tax bill asking Mr X to pay over two instalments of £372.
10. Mr X made a complaint to the Council as he considered it was unfair of the Council not to allow more time for him to pay the Council Tax when the enforcement agent had told him the Council would contact him. Mr X asked for a more affordable payment plan.
11. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint at stage one of its two stage complaints procedure. It acknowledged:

• That the Council should have sent Mr X an incoming occupier form when he returned the annotated enforcement notice for the previous occupier;
• The enforcement agent should have told Mr X to contact the Council to register his liability for the property.

12. The Council said it could not spread the payments over a longer period and beyond the end of the financial year. It could only agree a repayment plan over a longer period once a summons had been issued. Mr X asked for his complaint to be escalated to stage two of the complaints process. In his complaint Mr X said he had been diagnosed with mental health issues. The Council again said it could not allow Mr X to pay over a longer period.
13. I asked the Council how it considered the guidance on collecting Council Tax arrears when asking Mr X to pay the outstanding Council Tax liability in four instalments. The Council has said the officer who spoke to Mr X in November 2021 could have discussed the matter with their manager to avoid a complaint. The manager may have considered a repayment plan over the same amount of time as the delay.

Analysis

14. The Council has acknowledged it should have sent an incoming occupier’s form or made further enquiries to establish the occupancy of his property when Mr X returned the annotated enforcement notice. The Council has also acknowledged the enforcement agent should have told Mr X to directly contact the Council to register for Council Tax. So, the Council missed two opportunities to register Mr X’s liability for Council Tax in July and August 2021 which caused delay in sending the Council Tax bill to him. This is fault. Mr X was responsible for registering for Council Tax but he had notified the Council on two occasions so it is understandable that he did not take any further action until November 2021.
15. Government guidance provides local authorities should be willing to negotiate payments at any point in the process and work with bill payers to agree affordable and sustainable repayment plans. On balance, I do not consider the Council gave appropriate consideration to the guidance and Mr X’s request to pay the outstanding Council Tax over a reasonable period. It also did not give appropriate consideration to the matter in response to Mr X’s complaint.
16. I am mindful that the Council offered a payment in November 2021 in addition to the four instalments. But it failed to take consider agreeing an affordable payment plan with Mr X when he said he could not afford to do this. The Council was too rigid in requiring Mr X to pay by the end of the financial year and it should have considered a longer period based on what Mr X could afford. This is particularly the case when the Council’s failure to act on the annotated enforcement notice meant it did not bill Mr X until November 2021 and required Mr X to pay larger instalments over a much shorter period of time. I therefore consider the Council is at fault for failing to consider agreeing with Mr X an affordable and sustainable repayment plan.

Injustice to Mr X

17. On balance, I consider the Council’s failure to send an incoming occupier’s form or carry out further checks on the occupancy of his property denied Mr X the opportunity to pay his Council Tax for 2021/22 over a longer period of time and with lower instalments. Had the Council sent the form or carried out the checks then it is likely it would have issued a Council Tax bill to Mr X in August or September 2021. Mr X has been also caused distress by the Council failing to offer an affordable payment plan. The Council should remedy this injustice.

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Agreed action

18. That the Council:
1. Sends a written apology and makes a payment of £150 to Mr X to acknowledge it denied him the opportunity to pay his Council Tax over a longer period of time and with lower instalments and the distress caused by failing to offer an affordable payment plan.
2. Agrees an affordable payment plan with Mr X for the Council Tax arrears for 2021/22.
3. By training or other means, reminds officers of the provisions of the Government guidance on collection of Council Tax arrears to ensure they are willing to negotiate payments at any time in the process and work with bill payers to agree an affordable and sustainable payment plan to be paid within a reasonable timeframe.
19. The Council should take the above action within one month of my final decision.

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Final decision

20. The Council is at fault which has caused injustice to Mr X. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice in an appropriate and proportionate way so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman