Summary: We found fault with the Council for the delay in sending the complainant (Ms X) her council tax bills and for providing insufficient support for Ms X when she tried to apply for Council Tax Support and Council Tax Discretionary Relief. This fault caused Ms X injustice. The Council agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to recognise Ms X’s distress and train its staff who deal with council tax enquiries.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council failed by sending her council tax bills 18 months after she moved into the property as a tenant. The Council asked her to pay two large bills within a short time with no notice. This meant she was financially unprepared and had to take a loan.
2. Ms X says due to her personal circumstances and the external economic situation the Council’s actions had a negative impact on her finances and mental health.

Back to top

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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot find that an organisation has breached the Equality Act. However, we can find an organisation at fault for failing to take account of its duties under the Equality Act.
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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke to Ms X and considered the information she provided.
7. I considered the information and documents provided by the Council.
8. I reviewed our Focus Report ‘Equal Access: Getting it right for people with disabilities’ published in May 2022 and ‘Principles of good administrative practice’ published in December 2018.
9. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Legal and administrative framework

Council Tax

10. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax, and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
11. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed, the council will send the liable person a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
12. The courts found that the relevant date for liability should be calculated according to statutory principles, not the date the taxpayer first learned of the decision of the authority. (Hammersmith & Fulham Billing Authority v Butler [2001 (RVR 197)] )
13. The amount of council tax due for a property can be ‘reduced to such an extent as the [council]… thinks fit’. Councils have the discretion to reduce the council tax on a property in its area to nil if it decides it is appropriate to do so. (The Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 13A(1)(c))

Public sector equality duty

14. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires all local authorities (and bodies acting on their behalf) to have due regard to the need to:
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
15. The broad purpose of the public sector equality duty is to consider equality and good relations into the day-to-day business and decision making of public authorities. It requires equality considerations to be reflected into the design of policies and the delivery of services, including internal policies, and for these issues to be kept under review.

What happened

16. Ms X started renting a new flat (the Property) in mid-April 2021.
17. The same month Ms X contacted the Council electronically. Following instructions on the Council’s website she registered her move to the Property. She received an automatic acknowledgement the form had been received and she would be billed in due course.
18. In January 2022 the Property was brought into taxation following an investigation by the Council’s inspection team and two months later was banded as E by the Valuation Office Agency.
19. At the end of July Ms X’s landlord provided the Council with information allowing it to set up an account for Ms X from mid-April 2021. The Council set up an account at the end of September.
20. The Council issued council tax bills for Ms X at the end of September. She received them six days later. The sum of £1,993 for the tax year 2021/2022 was payable within two weeks and £2,134 for the tax year 2022/2023 within four months.
21. In mid-October Ms X complained to the Council. She said:
• For 18 months she had not received any council tax documents from the Council;
• She had followed the information from the government website on how to act to pay council tax;
• It was unreasonable for the Council to ask for such large sums to be paid within such short timescales;
• The person she had shared the flat with had moved out in June 2022 so she had increased bills as had not yet managed to find another flatmate.
22. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint at the beginning of November. It did not uphold Ms X’s complaint. The Council said:
• It had been unable to issue a council tax bill for Ms X sooner as the Property had not been listed for the council tax until January 2022;
• Council tax had been due from Ms X from the beginning of her tenancy in the Property;
• In view of Ms X’s complaint about the backdated council tax bills and the timescales for payments it would apply two payment plans, splitting the payments for Ms X’s council tax for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 into ten monthly instalments;
• If Ms X would find it difficult to pay in line with the payment plans, she should contact the Council’s welfare team. The Council also advised on the options of applying for Council Tax Support (CTS) and Council Tax Discretionary Relief (CTDR) as well as student exemption.
23. Ms X was not happy with the Council’s response to her complaint. At the beginning of December she explained she was contesting her liability for the council tax charged from April 2021 as the Council had failed to serve her with notice for the tax years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 and had failed to communicate with her about her council tax liability for 18 months from the date she had told the Council of her tenancy in the Property. Ms X asked for a senior manager to review her complaint.
24. In its stage two response the Council confirmed its position of not upholding Ms X’s complaint. It explained that once a new property is banded the council tax liability begins from the date the property has been completed or purchased.
25. In the third week of December the Council sent reminders to Ms X and in mid-January 2023 she received a summons from the court. Ms X paid £3,711 at the beginning of February. This was the overdue council tax with the single person’s discount applied.
26. At the end of April Ms X contacted the Council by telephone. She had difficulty paying her council tax for 2023/2024. Ms X said she wanted to apply for a CTDR but had not managed to complete the online form. She also had difficulty in filling in a CTS application and received an email from the Council with the information her application was not complete. The contact centre officer told Ms X of the Council’s welfare team and helped her to complete her CTS application.
27. The Council received Ms X’s CTS claim at the beginning of July.
28. Ms X told me she had to take a private loan to pay the council tax for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. After receiving the Council’s response to her complaint Ms X did not reply to the offered option of paying her overdue council tax in ten monthly instalments as she did not believe the Council could have charged her without sending its invoices in advance. The Council withdrew this offer once Ms X’s complaint was escalated to stage two. Ms X also told me she had tried to apply for CTDR and CTS online but failed. Even a telephone conversation she had with the Council did not help her to progress her applications. As a part-time student Ms X did not qualify for a student discount. Because of the stress caused by this situation Ms X’s mental health difficulties worsened and she had to increase her private therapy.
29. In the response to our enquiries the Council has accepted Ms X’s complaint should have been upheld as the Council had lost Ms X’s council tax online notice sent in April 2021. The Council offered a payment of £100. The Council also said it had not provided any support for Ms X on the CTDR scheme, even though she had mentioned this matter during the telephone conversation in April 2022, as the contact centre officer had understood Ms X’s call to be about her CTS application.

Analysis

Council Tax process

30. As explained in paragraph 12 of this decision Ms X became liable for the council tax arising from the occupancy of the Property in April 2021.
31. Ms X told the Council of her move to the Property and received an automatic confirmation of receipt. The Council missed this notice and failed to act on it which is fault. This fault was perpetuated by the Council’s refusal to recognise this failing in the complaint process. Only when responding to our enquiries did the Council accept its responsibility for this failing.
32. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Ms X. If the Council had applied for the Property valuation after receiving Ms X’s notice, it is reasonable to expect it would have issued a council tax bill for Ms X for 2021/2022 by October 2021. This only happened in September 2022 and by that time there was another council tax bill due. The Council’s delay in issuing a council tax bill for 2021/2022 for Ms X by 11 months and the delay in issuing a council tax bill for 2022/2023 by six months caused her uncertainty as she did not know the amount of council tax she would be charged. Ms X was distressed when she received two large bills with short timescales for payment.
33. The injustice caused by the Council’s fault is mitigated by the fact the duty to pay council tax when occupying a property in England is universal and Ms X knew about it as she had read the government and the Council’s websites. She should have expected to pay council tax, although she might have not known how much. Even if the council tax bills had been issued without delay, Ms X would have had to pay the same amount of council tax for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 as listed in the bills issued in September 2022.

CTS and CTDR applications

34. When sending council tax bills to Ms X the Council told her she could seek support through various schemes. In the spring of 2023 Ms X tried to apply for CTS and CTDR online through the link provided in the Council’s letters but did not succeed. When she called the Council in April she got limited help with CTS and no help with CTDR. The Council only received Ms X’s CTS application at the beginning of July.
35. The Council failed to support Ms X in applying for help with her council tax bills, which is fault. Ms X raised concerns about her ability to pay two high council tax bills in October 2022. When she called the Council in April and discussed her difficulties, we would expect the Council to explain all various council tax schemes and support Ms X in applying for the ones which might have been applicable to her situation. The delay in resolving Ms X’s difficulties with the CTS application suggests the Council’s help was ineffective.
36. The Council’s fault caused Ms X injustice by creating uncertainty about any financial support she could expect from the Council in her individual circumstances.

Equality Act 2010

37. When investigating this complaint I did not make any findings on whether, when providing its services to Ms X, the Council should have considered its duties under the Equality Act 2010. It came to my attention, however, that the Council’s overreliance on its online services does not in general show proper consideration for its duties under this piece of legislation and is not good administrative practice. When providing its council tax services the Council must ensure it can address the needs of its residents who either do not have access to the internet or cannot for any other reasons use the Council’s online forms. The quality of advice they get on the phone should place them in the same position as a person who can easily navigate online advice and forms.

Back to top

Agreed action

38. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, we recommend the Council complete within four weeks of the final decision the following:
• Apologise to Ms X for the injustice caused by the Council’s failings;
• Offer Ms X support in applying for Council Tax Discretionary Relief by sending her a form by post and answering any queries she might have;
• Pay Ms X £300 to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration caused by the Council’s failings.
39. We also recommend the Council within three months of the final decision ensure all staff in the contact centre who provide council tax support read our Focus Report ‘Equal Access: Getting it right for people with disabilities’ published in May 2022 and ‘Principles of good administrative practice’ issued in December 2018.
40. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

41. I uphold Ms X’s complaint. I found fault with the Council for its delay in sending Ms X her council tax bills and inadequate help with applying for the council tax support and relief schemes. The Council’s fault caused Ms X injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations, so this investigation is at an end.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman