Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s Council Tax account. This is because an investigation is unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his Council Tax account in relation to the direct debit on his account and the payment arrangement he had in place to clear his arrears.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about its handling of his Council Tax account.
6. The Council responded in detail to explain to Mr X what had occurred on his account and why. It acknowledged that it had missed an opportunity to agree a payment arrangement for his arrears when his bill for 2023/24 had been recalculated. It apologised for this and any confusion caused by the extra documentation sent to him and confirmed it had raised the matter as a training issue to prevent a recurrence of the problem. It also apologised that incorrect bills had been sent to him following the recall of his direct debit.
7. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and while Mr X may not be satisfied with the Council’s consideration of his complaint, an investigation by the Ombudsman will not usefully add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman