Summary: Mr X complains the council failed to advise about an adjournment of a council tax liability order hearing he wished to attend. The council obtained a liability order and later applied an attachment of earnings causing him hardship. We have not found fault by the council. We cannot consider part of the complaint as it relates to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, wished to attend a liability order court hearing about his council tax because he did not agree with the amount charged. However, he says the council did not tell the court or him about an adjourned hearing.
2. The council then obtained a liability order and pursued recovery of the council tax via an attachment of earnings order. Mr X says this caused him hardship.

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What I have and have not investigated

3. I have considered the council taking recovery action of the outstanding council tax by attachment of earnings.
4. I have not considered the alleged failure to notify Mr X regarding the date of the new adjourned hearing because it is part of the court proceedings.
5. We cannot consider matters from the issue of the court summons up to and including the making of the liability order because it is part of the commencement or conduct of civil proceedings before a court of law. (Local Government Act –Schedule 5.1).
6. Mr X says he is applying to the court to set aside the liability order and is taking legal action against the council. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

7. 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).
8. 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

9. I have discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered the complaint and the documents he provided. I have made enquiries of the council and considered the comments and documents the council provided. Mr X and the council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax recovery

10. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to the magistrates court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
11. A liability order gives a council the legal power to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. This can include taking deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (this means deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the council) or using bailiffs. The council can decide which recovery method it wishes to use but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

What happened

12. The council sent Mr X a summons for council tax in August 2022.
13. Mr X attended the court for the liability order hearing. He wished to dispute the amount and so the hearing was adjourned. The council obtained a liability order at the adjourned hearing in October.

Attachment of earnings

14. The council says Mr X completed an income and expenditure form when he attended the first liability order hearing in September. This form also includes an offer of payment. Mr X said he would pay £150 per month and signed the form.
15. The council wrote to Mr X on 13 October 2022 and said that it agreed the offer to pay by instalments of £150 per month. It asked Mr X to start paying this on 1 November 2022.
16. The council then obtained a liability order at the court hearing on 14 October 2022.
17. However, Mr X did not make the payments according to the payment arrangement from 1 November 2022.
18. The council then wrote to Mr X’s employer in January 2023 to make an attachment of earnings, making deductions from Mr X’s earnings. The council started receiving these in April 2023.
19. Mr X complained to the council about not being advised about the liability order hearing and the deductions from his earnings. He said this caused him hardship.
20. The council responded that the court was responsible for advising of an adjourned hearing date. It said that Mr X had not paid according to the payment arrangement he offered in September 2022. Therefore, the council had the applied for deductions from his earnings.
21. Mr X says he is applying to the court for the liability order to be set aside.

Analysis

22. I have not found fault in the council’s actions regarding the attachment of earnings.
23. When a council obtains a liability order this allows it to take recovery action by attachment of earnings or by using an enforcement agent. In this case Mr X had offered to make payments and the council had agreed, sending him a notification letter.
24. After two months where it received no payment, the council applied to Mr X’s employer with an attachment of earnings. There is no apparent fault here.

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Final decision

25. I have not found fault by the Council. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman