Summary: Ms E complained the Council failed to provide appropriate support when dealing with her council tax account. She says the Council failed to exercise discretion, it refused to act when she described the hardship she was facing, and it bullied her into paying council tax. We find the Council was at fault for failing to provide Ms E with her appeal rights and a detailed explanation why it rejected her disability reduction application. The Council invited Ms E to make a fresh application, and it has now backdated the payments. However, it did not apologise to Ms E for the uncertainty caused. The Council has accepted our recommendation to apologise to Ms E.

The complaint

1. Ms E complained the Council failed to provide appropriate support when dealing with her council tax account. She says the Council failed to exercise discretion, it refused to act when she described the hardship she was facing, and it bullied her into paying council tax. She also says its communication with her was poor.
2. Ms E says the Council’s actions have caused her significant distress and upset. She says she was forced to go back to work because of the Council’s failings.

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What I have and have not investigated

3. I have not investigated Ms E’s complaint about whether she was entitled to further council tax support. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability. The Council provided Ms E with her appeal rights, and it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if she was unhappy with its decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
7. 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

8. I considered information from Ms E. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
9. Ms E and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax

10. Council tax is a tax made on domestic properties. Councils issue one bill to each household. Residents of dwellings are usually liable for council tax from the date they move into a property.
11. When working out how many people live in a property, some people are not counted. They are called ‘disregarded people’. All full-time student is disregarded for council tax purposes.

Council tax reduction

12. Council tax reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a reduction of the amount of council tax payable. Since 2013, each council is responsible for running their own local CTR schemes for help with council tax. The amount of discount awarded is based on a claimant’s savings, family make up, and income. It is paid by reducing the council tax owed and issuing a new council tax bill.
13. The Council gives someone help towards their council tax if the appropriate disability criteria is satisfied. To qualify for a reduction the applicant’s home must contain either:

• a room which is not a bathroom, kitchen or lavatory and is mainly used for meeting the needs of a disabled person - for example, a room set aside for dialysis or other therapy.
• an extra bathroom or kitchen for use by the disabled person.
• extra space inside the property to allow for use of a wheelchair.

14. Applicants can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if they are unhappy with the Council’s decisions on such matters.

What happened

15. This chronology provides an overview of key events in this case and does not detail everything that happened.
16. Ms E contacted the Council in February 2021 and applied for a reduction in her council tax because of her disability.
17. The Council considered Ms E’s application. It wrote to her three months later and said her application was unsuccessful. It failed to provide with her appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal or a detailed reason why it rejected her application.
18. Ms E’s son was a full-time student. This meant he was disregarded for council tax purposes and the Council applied a 25% discount to Ms E’s council tax account. Ms E was also receiving council tax support.
19. Ms E contacted the Council in January 2022 and provided it with an update on her circumstances. She said her income was going to decrease.
20. The Council responded and asked for further information. It also said her son would become a non-dependant from May when he reached the age when child benefit was no longer payable for him. It said this would result in the loss of council tax support.
21. Ms E responded and asked for further information about her son’s non-dependant status. She also asked for clarity on what would happen if her son did not continue in education. The Council responded and said as soon as a person is no longer entitled to child benefit, it treats the child as a non-dependant. It also said if her son did not return to education in September then it would remove the 25% discount from the date his course ended.
22. The Council and Ms E continued to exchange emails about the issues. The Council told Ms E she could apply for exceptional relief. These are discretionary payments for people who are struggling to pay their council tax. It also said she could make a claim from the housing support fund. This is money the government awarded the Council to support those with rising living costs.
23. The Council wrote to Ms E and confirmed it would not award her council tax support. It said she could contact the Valuation Tribunal if she was unhappy with its decision.
24. Ms E provided the Council with a certificate which confirmed her son’s course was ending on 1 July. The Council wrote to her and adjusted her council tax to remove the 25% discount.
25. Ms E complained to the Council. She said it bullied her into paying council tax and it had failed to provide her with support as a vulnerable person. She also said she was unhappy it removed the 25% discount as her son was still a student.
26. The Council wrote to Ms E in response to her concerns. It said it would reinstate the 25% discount because she said she was going to speak to the college about her son’s options. It said it would contact her at the end of October to see if it could extend the discount. It said this would depend on whether her son had enrolled on another full-time course. It also offered to extend her monthly instalments to help spread the costs of her council tax bill.
27. Ms E contacted the Council a few months later and confirmed her son would not be returning to college. The Council responded and said it would end the 25% discount.
28. Ms E asked the Council to review its response to her complaint. She said she felt it had discriminated against her by failing to award her a drop in her tax band because of her disability. She also said it failed to help her in line with government guidelines.
29. The Council issued its stage two response to Ms E’s complaint. It said she received a £75 hardship payment in January and exceptional relief payments from March to May. It said it failed to give her appeal rights or a satisfactory reason why it had rejected her disability reduction application. It confirmed she could make a fresh application and if it was successful, it would consider backdating the reduction. Finally, it said it could not award her anything from the household support fund as she did not meet the criteria.
30. Ms E provided the Council with further information in support of her disability reduction application. The Council considered her application and awarded her £611.49. It backdated the payment to 2017 which is when she first moved into her property.

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Analysis

31. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons to do so. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. Ms E complains about the Council’s actions from February 2021 onwards, but she did not refer her complaint to us until July 2022. Ms E has explained she was suffering from poor health which prevented her from the contacting the Ombudsman sooner. I accept this is a good reason for her delay in contacting us and so I have exercised discretion to look at the Council’s actions from February 2021 onwards.
32. I have seen no evidence the Council bullied Ms E into paying council tax or its communication with her was poor. The Council’s communication with Ms E was professional. It also provided further clarification when she asked for it and it recognised in all correspondence the difficulties she was facing. I have not seen any examples where the Council was threatening or bullying towards Ms E.
33. The Council did exercise some discretion in dealing with Ms E. It confirmed it would extend the 25% discount until October after she explained she was going to discuss her son’s options with the college.
34. The Council also recognised the hardship Ms E was facing and tried to help with this. It awarded her the hardship payment and exceptional relief payments. It also offered to extend her monthly instalments to help spread the costs of her council tax bill.
35. The Council did not award Ms E any money from the household support fund as she did not qualify under its criteria. It was not at fault, as it can only award money to those who qualify.
36. The Council was at fault for failing to provide Ms E with detailed reasons why it was rejecting her disability reduction application in 2021. It also failed to provide her with her appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council acknowledged its fault when it responded to Ms E’s complaint. It has taken steps to address by asking Ms E to make a fresh application and then backdating the payments to 2017. I welcome the Council has now taken this action. I do not know what the outcome would have been if the Council had been without fault and whether Ms E would have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. However, the Council’s fault does provide her with some uncertainty. The Council failed to apologise to Ms E and properly recognise this injustice in response to her complaint. I recommend it now does so.

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Agreed action

37. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 30 March 2023 the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms E for the uncertainty caused by failing to provide her with her appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal and detailed reasons why it was rejecting her disability reduction application in 2021.
38. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

39. There was fault by the Council, which caused Ms E an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendation and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman