Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability as it is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now. We also cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has incorrectly billed him for council tax. Mr X wants the council tax to be cancelled

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complains the Council is wrongly holding him liable for council tax from 2019 and about a letter the Council sent to him about this in January 2022.
9. Mr X complained to us in June 2023. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us as he has not complained to us within 12 months of him knowing about the problem. I do not consider there are good reasons to investigate this late complaint now and we will not do so, therefore.
10. We cannot determine liability for council tax; such disputes are decided by the Valuation Tribunal (VT) and Mr X could have made an appeal to the VT about this matter.
11. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks as we cannot ask the Council to cancel the council tax bill.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now. In addition, we are not empowered to decide disputes about council tax liability or to change council tax bills.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman