Sheffield City Council (23 012 975)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Dec 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to response to Mr X’s attempts to contact it regarding a summons. This is because an investigation would not provide Mr X with a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council did not respond to multiple calls and emails he sent regarding an upcoming summons hearing to dispute council tax liability.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council after he missed a court hearing to dispute council tax liability. Mr X said he attempted to contact the Council 29 times and did not receive a response.
- The Council investigated and conceded it was at fault for failing to respond to Mr X and it would take action to ensure the issue did not happen again. The Council apologised and explained that it would remove the liability order and summons costs to address the injustice Mr X experienced.
- Mr X remains unhappy with the Council’s actions and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Ombudsman’s primary purpose is to put things right. The evidence shows the Council has acknowledged that it was at fault, apologise and provided a proportionate financial remedy. These were reasonable actions for the Council to take and in line with the Ombudsman’s approach.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman