Herefordshire Council (23 001 943)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about late Council tax liability because the matter has been remedied.
The complaint
- Ms X says that she told the Council that her self build property had been completed and would need the Council tax banding to be assessed. She says the Council delayed arranging this for three years so that she now has a large, backdated bill to pay.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X says that she built a new property following the demolition of her previous in 2019. She says that she told the Council of this but no Council tax banding was determined and so she is now faced with a three year backdated Council tax bill. The Council denies receiving the notification but has allowed 18 months to repay the backdated sum.
- If the Council was responsible for the delay in the Council tax banding then the Ombudsman would seek a remedy for the repayment of the amount over a longer period. Ms X was aware that there would be a Council tax bill from the point the new house was built and so could have put money aside for the payment.
- The Council’s agreement to spread the payments over an 18 month period is therefore, in our view, a remedy to the complaint and no further investigation is therefore required.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman