Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s council tax liability. It would have been reasonable for her to appeal the matter to the Valuation Tribunal at the time of events.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council pursued her for council tax for a period during which she was a student and should have been exempt. She says the Council has more recently obtained a liability order, and it has sent her several letters about the debt which she says should not have been incurred. She says this has had a significant impact on her mental health, and she has gone to inconvenience trying to resolve the matter. She wants the Council to withdraw its decision to begin court proceedings and accept her as not liable for the period in question. She wants financial compensation for the distress.

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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. 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

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

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My assessment

8. Ms X complains about her council tax bill from several years ago. She says she was a full-time student for the period in question. She says she provided evidence of this to the Council, but it refused to make her exempt from council tax.
9. The information Ms X has provided confirms the Council made her aware of her right to appeal in 2019. We would normally not consider complaints about council tax liability because the Valuation Tribunal is best placed to do so. The tribunal is an independent body whose decisions are binding on the Council. We could not decide whether someone is liable to pay council tax and there is no reason in this case for us to consider the matter instead.
10. In any event, the law says complaints should be made to us within 12 months unless there are good reasons. Ms X was challenging the Council’s decision in 2019 and we would not exercise discretion to consider this late complaint now.
11. The more recent events of 2023 relate to the Council’s decision to obtain a liability order from the courts in relation to the debt. The law prevents us from considering councils’ decision to begin court proceedings. It is open to Ms X to contact the Valuation Tribunal Service to ask it to consider a late appeal.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it would have been reasonable for her to use her right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal in 2019.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman