Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about action taken by the Council on Mr X’s council tax account as there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him from any Council fault to warrant our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council discriminated against him by not allowing him to vary the date he pays council tax, as someone who does not pay by direct debit. Mr X wants the Council to provide answers to his questions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Background and my assessment

6. Mr X pays council tax every month and says while he has not missed a monthly payment, he does not always pay on the date stated on his council tax bill.
7. The Council sent Mr X a reminder notice for an unpaid instalment in July 2023, as Mr X had not paid that month’s payment by the date due, as per his bill.
8. Mr X contacted the council tax department about this, saying he intended to pay the instalments for the remainder of the year at the end of each month. Mr X received no response to this from the Council. The Council sent Mr X another remainder in August 2023, to which Mr X again replied, setting out his position, and again received no response. The Council sent Mr X a final notice in September 2023 requesting that all remaining council tax be paid. At this point, Mr X complained to the Council.
9. In its complaint responses to Mr X, the Council acknowledged it had failed to properly deal with Mr X’s contacts after the remainder notices were sent and that it had addressed these issues with the staff involved. It apologised to Mr X for this and withdrew the final notice but confirmed that Mr X had to pay his remaining instalments as per the instruction given on his council tax bill, to avoid further recovery action.
10. The Council explained that it has discretion to set the date it requires instalments to be paid under the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement Regulations) 1992 (the Regulations). It confirmed it does allow direct debit payers a choice of dates to pay and explains that this scheme allows it to know what money is coming into the Council and when, and so helps it set budgets. The Council said it cannot allow residents who do not pay by direct debit to set their own personal, monthly payment plans so those not paying by direct debit are instructed to pay on the first of each month.
11. Mr X is unhappy as he considers the legislation does not refer to methods of payment and that the Council has not properly explained why it can treat direct debit payers differently. Mr X considers the Council is discriminating against him.
12. We will not investigate this complaint. While Mr X was caused some injustice by Council fault when it failed to reply to his emails about the reminder notices, it has apologised for this and withdrawn the final notice it issued. I do not consider there is sufficient remaining injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our further involvement. In saying this, I am mindful of the fact that Mr X chose himself not to pay on the dates as stated on his bill, thus risking recovery action by the Council.
13. The Council has explained it has discretion to set collection dates and has explained why it treats those paying by direct debit differently to those not. The Regulations may not specifically mention methods of payment but give the Council overall discretion as to when to collect as per Part 1 of Schedule 1, which states ‘the instalments are to be payable on such day in each month as is so specified’. The Council is allowed to state when payments should be made, and this is not fault by the Council.
14. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him from Council fault to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman