Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council handled her council tax account. Specifically, she complained the Council failed to award her a single person discount and council tax support and delayed in updating her council tax account. The Council was delayed in updating Ms X’s account. However, it has apologised and offered to set up a payment plan which is appropriate to remedy the injustice caused. The Council was not at fault in how it awarded Ms X single person discount and council tax support.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council:
• failed to act on information she provided about her change in circumstances in June 2021;
• delayed in acting on information provided by the Department of Works and Pension (DWP) in July 2021;
• failed to communicate with her adequately over a payment plan and then set up a plan she could not realistically meet;
• failed to properly consider her request for single person occupancy; and
• failed to reinstate her council tax support when her tenant left in October 2021.
2. Ms X says that as a result, she had been caused avoidable anxiety and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. 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

6. I spoke to Ms X and considered her view of her complaint.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided.
8. I wrote to Ms X and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

What happened

9. Ms X was unemployed and receiving universal credit (UC). She received council tax support from the Council which meant the amount of council tax she paid each month was reduced.
10. In February 2021, the Council sent Ms X her council tax bill for the 2021/22 year. This stated that at the end of the 2020/21 financial year, Ms X was in arrears with her council tax by £227.62.
11. In May, the Council sent Ms X an adjusted council tax notice for 2021/22. This recorded the arrears for the 2020/21 year had reduced to £127.62. The Council applied a 25% single person discount and also awarded her council tax support. All of this reduced the council tax owed for 2021/22 to £113.04. The notice stated Ms X’s current arrears due immediately were £106.19 with a further six instalments of around £1 each (to complete the amount for the year of £113.04).
12. On 4 June 2021, Ms X said she contacted the Council to inform it that her circumstances had changed and she had started work.
13. On 6 July, the Council received a notification from the DWP stating Ms X’s UC had changed because she had started work. Because UC was paid monthly in arrears, this was effective from 5 June.
14. Ms X said a tenant moved into her property on 6 July.
15. The DWP sent notifications to the Council in August, September and October about further changes to Ms X’s UC. However, the Council took no action to adjust Ms X’s council tax support until 6 October. This took into account the July notification from the DWP. It then made a further adjustment on 22 October which took the August, September and October notifications into account. The Council said the delays were due to a backlog of work which built up when council tax staff were redeployed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
16. Ms X informed the Council that on 7 October, the tenant left the property to move into temporary supported accommodation because of mental health issues. Ms X informed the Council in December that he had moved out and the Council sent her a single person discount form to complete.
17. In January 2022 Ms X complained to the Council about the delays in adjusting her council tax support.
18. In its response the Council apologised for the delays and partly upheld Ms X’s complaint. It stated that the Council had set up a payment plan and had “spread the payment out as far as they can”. It also said it was working on a new system which would automate UC changes which would prevent a backlog building up in future.
19. Ms X complained again to say the Council had not contacted her to set up a payment plan and that it had not applied a single person discount.
20. The Council responded and stated a council tax officer had telephoned her on the 22 and 23 December to discuss the potential payment plan. The officer had told her that the payment plan could run from December 2021 to March 2022 in order to clear the arrears before the next financial year. The officer told Ms X this was the only option to prevent further court action.
21. In relation to the single person discount, the Council informed her that even though her tenant was living in other accommodation, because this was temporary, Ms X did not qualify for the single person discount. If her tenant’s accommodation became permanent, then Ms X would qualify for the discount.
22. Ms X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.
23. In February 2022, the Council sent Ms X an adjustment notice for the amount she owed for 2021/22. This specified she had received council tax support for the majority of the year.
24. In March 2022, the Council received another single person application from Ms X. It agreed to award her the discount from October 2021, when her tenant moved out.
25. In response to my enquiries, the Council said Ms X had not paid any council tax from August 2021 to May 2022. It said it would allow her to pay this year’s council tax plus the arrears from 2021/22 over eight instalments. It said if Ms X made these payments, it would not take action to obtain a liability order from the courts.

My findings

Information provided by Ms X and the DWP about her change in circumstances and setting up of a payment plan

26. Ms X states she contacted the Council when she began work to inform it of her change in circumstances. The Council has no record of the call.
27. In the absence of phone records and call recordings, I cannot say what happened. Therefore, I cannot come to a finding on this matter.
28. The Council has already stated that it delayed in adjusting Ms X’s council tax following notifications from the DWP. This is fault and it has already apologised for this.
29. The Council initially requested payment of the arrears over a short period to enable the debt to be cleared within that financial year. Although it was entitled to do that, the Council’s delay in dealing with the changes to Ms X’s account was partly responsible for the short period of time left to clear the debt in that year. The Council has now stated Ms X may pay her 2021/22 debt off, together with the current year’s council tax, over eight payments. It has said it will not take action to obtain a liability order if Ms X maintains those payments. This is an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused.

Request for single person occupancy and council tax support from October 2021

30. Ms X informed the Council her tenant left in October 2021. Originally the Council did not accept Ms X’s explanation of why she should be awarded single person discount. However, following further consideration in February 2022, the Council agreed to the discount and backdated it to October 2021 when Ms X’s tenant moved out. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
31. The Council has sent me a copy of Ms X’s 2021/22 council tax bill which shows it awarded her council tax support, for most of the year including from October 2021 when her tenant left. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Agreed action

32. The Council has agreed to set up an extended payment plan over eight months for Ms X to repay her arrears from 2021/22 and to continue to pay her council tax for this year. The Council has provided proof it has done this.

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Final decision

33. The Council was at fault when it delayed in updating Ms X’s council tax account following information from the DWP. It has apologised and set up an appropriate action plan which is appropriate to remedy the injustice caused. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman