Ashford Borough Council (23 002 504)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of council tax arrears through the magistrates court. We have no jurisdiction to consider complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council serving summons and a liability order on him and pursuing unpaid council tax through enforcement agents since 2021. He says he does not consider the summonses or liability actions to be valid court proceedings and that the Council has no authority top harass his family using third parties.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says the Council informed him it had taken court action in 2021 against him and authorised enforcement agents to recover unpaid council tax from him. he disputes the validity of the summonses served by the Council and says evidence that it had taken any court action was lacking. He refuses to pay third parties employed by the Council to collect council tax from him. He recently received a further summons for the current and previous tax years and says that this is a fake document with no legal authority.
- Councils as billing authorities may serve summonses on residents for unpaid council tax and the summons provided by Mr X with his complaint carries a signature of the Clerk to the Justices. Council also may provide a list of parties against who they wish to seek a liability order in the Magistrates Court. Mr X may challenge the sum for which the Council is seeking an order at a hearing in the court in future.
- We have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about matters subject to court proceedings and this includes summonses and liability orders issued in pursuit of council tax arrears.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of council tax arrears through the magistrates court. We have no jurisdiction to consider complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman