London Borough of Harrow (23 014 124)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Jan 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Liability Orders as there is a remedy in court.
The complaint
- Mr X says that the Council’s enforcement process is legally incorrect and is proposing to take legal action against the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he believes that the Council’s process of using Liability Orders to enforce Council tax debt is illegal. He says that he deliberately refused to pay his Council tax in order to test this belief.
- Mr X says he has a strong legal argument and is proposing to take the Council to court.
- The Ombudsman would not investigate a complaint where the complainant can take legal action against the Council in court. For this reason the Ombudsman would not investigate this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman