Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax error the Council made in 2021. This is because the Council has provided a fair and proportionate response.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council made council tax errors despite Ms X making contact to check everything was correct. Ms X wants the Council to waive the arrears and pay compensation.

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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 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 an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
5. Ms X had an opportunity to comment on our draft decision.

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My assessment

6. Ms X was getting the council tax single person discount (SPD). The SPD reduced the council tax by 25%. In 2021 Ms X told the Council her partner had moved in. Ms X made two further calls in 2021 to query payments after her account became a joint account.
7. The Council did not remove the SPD in 2021. The Council issued a new bill in 2021 for the joint account which showed the SPD was still in payment. It also issued a bill in March 2022 which showed the SPD had been applied.
8. In March 2023 the Council realised it had not removed the SPD. It removed the discount from 2021 which added arrears to the account.
9. In response to Ms X’s complaint the Council apologised, explained what had gone wrong and accepted that in 2021 there had been three opportunities when it could have removed the SPD. The Council offered to spread payment of the arrears over two years and said it will review what changes it can make to stop the same error being repeated.
10. Ms X did nothing wrong and did all that was expected when her partner moved in. The Council, however, failed to correctly process the information she reported. But, I will not investigate the complaint because the Council has already provided a fair response. It has apologised and explained what went wrong. It has offered to spread the arrears over two years and will take steps to prevent the error being repeated.
11. I appreciate this may have caused some stress and upset but Ms X is not being charged any more than she would have been charged had the mistake not happened, and a two-year payment plan will reduce the financial impact. Ms X knew by April that the Council had offered a payment plan which meant she knew she was not facing a demand for immediate payment. In addition, while the Council missed chances in 2021 to put matters right, it is also the case that the Council sent two bills showing the SPD. If Ms X had noticed the SPD on the bills and alerted the Council, the mistake could have been corrected earlier.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided a remedy we are satisfied with.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman