Burnley Borough Council (23 005 202)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about misinformation from the Council because the complaint has been remedied.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council wrongly advised she could receive a refund of Council tax as she had overpaid.
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 a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
- 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:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 spoke to a Council officer who informed her that, as she was in credit with her Council tax payments, she could receive a refund.
- However, the Council later explained that this advice was incorrect as Ms X had previous arrears and a refund would not be paid in such circumstances (the credit was used towards the arrears). The Council apologised and it has provided training to the officer to ensure the mistake is not repeated.
- The maladministration by the Council was the advice that a refund could be made. Had no mistake been made she would have been told that the credit had to go towards the arrears. The injustice caused to her by this is the understandable upset. However, the Council has apologised and taken action to ensure no repeat of the mistake. I am satisfied that this is a sufficient remedy to this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman