Summary: Ms P complains about alleged failings by the Council in relation to the billing of her council tax. We cannot investigate this complaint because it relates to matters Ms P has appealed to a tribunal and which have been subject to the commencement or conduct of proceedings before a court of law.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms P, is making a complaint about her council tax and the amount she has been billed by the Council. She says she is not liable to pay council tax due to being in receipt of benefits and the Council has wrongly sent her summons to appear in Magistrates’ Court about the payment arrears.
2. In summary, Ms P feels harassed by the Council and that the alleged failures have caused her distress and uncertainty, as well as much time and trouble on her part. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council stop seeking recovery of the council tax balance.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended).
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).
6. 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

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My findings

Background and legislative framework

8. The primary legislation for council tax is the Local Government Finance Act 1992. The main secondary legislation concerned with collection and recovery is The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 SI 613. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to a magistrate’s court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. This will result in a council issuing a legal summons to appear in court. Once a council has a liability order it can take recovery action.
9. A liability order gives a council the legal power to take enforcement action to collect the council tax and court costs owed. The most commonly used powers are asking for deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (this means deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the council) or using enforcement agents.
10. The Valuation Tribunal Service is an independent judicial body which provides dispute resolution for council tax matters. It deals with all appeals such as if someone is liable for council tax or is exempt from paying.

Chronology of key events

11. In mid-2023, Ms P notified the Council she had appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. She said this was due to its failure to recognise she is exempt from paying council tax. Some months later, Ms P received a summons from the Council to appear in the magistrate’s court for unpaid council tax.

My assessment

12. The matter of the Council issuing a summons to Ms P for unpaid council tax is now a matter subject to legal proceedings in court. Liability order proceedings in the magistrates’ court start from the issue of a summons to the making of a liability order. We cannot investigate in these circumstances as we have no jurisdiction to investigate a complaint subject to the commencement or conduct of legal proceedings. The restriction outlined at Paragraph 6 (above) applies.
13. I recognise Ms P also complains about the Council failing to consider she is exempt from paying council tax due to being in receipt of certain benefits. However, Ms P has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal which is the appropriate body to consider these types of appeals. We have no jurisdiction to investigate as the restriction outlined at Paragraph 5 (above) applies.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate this complaint because it relates to matters subject to the commencement or conduct of proceedings before a court of law. Ms P has also appealed to a statutory tribunal which will consider her appeal about whether she is an exempt person. The complaint does not meet the conditions outlined in the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and we have therefore closed the complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman