Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has made mathematical errors on the council tax bill and not provided answers to the complainant. This is because only the courts can determine council tax challenges and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. In addition, the Council will write to the complainant again to explain how the figures have been reached.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says there are mathematical errors on his council tax bill. He also says the Council has not explained why it thinks the figures are correct.

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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, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint; or
• the Council agrees to action to help resolve the complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and Mr X’s council tax bill for this year and last year. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Mr X says there are mathematical errors on his council tax bill. He also says the Council has not answered his questions about how the figures have been reached. The Council has confirmed the bills are correct and wrote to Mr X twice to explain how the figures for this year were calculated.
5. The bill includes a general charge, and an Adult Social Care (ASC) charge, which are set by the County Council. For every council tax band the County told the District Council the amount which must be stated on the bill. In addition, the law says the increases in relation to the ASC charge must be based on a combination of the general County charge, and the ASC charge, from last year. This means the actual increase is different to how it may appear on the bill as a direct percentage increase. The way the charge is calculated is stated on the bill but it is not easy to understand. This is partly due to the regulations which stipulate how councils must present council tax bills.
6. I can understand why Mr X thinks he has been overcharged because the increases between the bills do not always add up as simple percentage increases. This is partly due to rounding up issues and partly to do with the way the law says the ASC charge must be calculated and stated on the bill. But, the figures that may appear incorrect (and I am not saying they are wrong) were set by the County and the District had no option but to use the figures provided by the County. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault by Huntingdon District Council to warrant an investigation.
7. In addition, the council tax is set by the Council before the start of each financial year and can only be challenged in the High Court. We have no power to say the council tax is wrong.
8. That said, the calculations are not easy to follow and while the Council has tried to explain the increase to Mr X, it is still hard to understand how the figures have been reached. I asked the Council to write to Mr X again, to provide another explanation of how the figures for the current council tax were reached. The Council agreed to my request and will write to Mr X within two weeks of the date of this decision.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because only the courts can consider challenges about the amount of council tax and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. In addition, the Council will provide Mr X with another explanation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman