Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax reduction because there is an appeal to a Valuation Tribunal, part of the complaint has been remedied and part of the complaint is out of time.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council has failed to pay correct Council tax reduction and has unreasonably sought recovery of Council tax.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
4. 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)
5. 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)

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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 says that her Universal Credit and Council tax reductions have been incorrectly calculated. The Council is recovering Council tax it says was wrongly paid her.
9. Universal Credit is not provided by the Council and any complaint to the Ombudsman is therefore out of jurisdiction.
10. The Council has provided a detailed response to her complaint which explains the Council’s decisions and how her Council tax reduction was calculated and an overpayment of Council tax reduction was made.
11. Council tax reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a discount, not a benefit. If a council gives someone too much CTR it can reduce the CTR and so increase the council tax owed. We call these changes CTR reversals. Sometimes a council creates reversals because it has miscalculated the CTR, perhaps ignoring information it had, or using information it should have not used.
12. Councils can award discretionary CTR to reduce a claimant’s council tax, using their powers under S13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended). Each council should have its own scheme. Somebody experiencing financial hardship because of a decision about wrongly paid council tax reduction, can apply for a discretionary reduction. Appeals about those decisions are to the Valuation Tribunal.
13. The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
14. The Council has also reduced the amount of CTR being recovered by £561 as a gesture of goodwill. The Ombudsman would consider this a remedy to this complaint.
15. The CTR complaints go back to 2021. Therefore the earlier part of this complaint would be out of time for investigation.
16. For these reasons the Ombudsman would not investigate this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman