Summary: We will not investigate this council tax complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the arrears have been confirmed in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council manages his council tax and says the Council takes him to court for small amounts. Mr X wants us to review the Council’s use of court action for council tax arrears.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and information about a recent court case. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Council tax must be paid as billed. If someone pays late, or pays less than the due amount, the Council can serve a summons and apply to the magistrates for a liability order. A liability order is a court order confirming the person must pay the council tax and costs.
6. In May 2023 the Council obtained a liability order for 2022/23 for council tax of £198 plus costs of £425. The Council applied for a liability order because Mr X did not pay as billed; he did not make any payments until October and the amount he paid was less than the amount due.
7. Mr X has made many complaints which include the Council’s use of court action to recover arrears, not taking steps to help people, an abuse of power, and not issuing receipts.
8. I cannot investigate the arrears because the court confirmed Mr X must pay the council tax and costs. There is nothing to suggest fault in the process the Council followed before issuing a summons and the law allows councils to take legal action if someone has arrears.
9. I have reviewed the complaint correspondence and I have not seen anything to suggest we need to start an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate his complaint because the court has confirmed the arrears and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman