Summary: Mr X complained the Council will not send him information about his council tax charges in an electronic format as a reasonable adjustment because he is blind. He also complained the Council has taken money out of his benefits without his consent. He said this has caused embarrassment, financial stress, and impacted on his wellbeing. We do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X is blind and asked the Council to provide information about his council tax charges in an electronic format as a reasonable adjustment. Mr X complained the Council will not provide that information in the format he requested. He said this means he is unable to understand his charges. He also complained the Council has taken money out of his benefits without his consent.
2. Mr X has difficulties reading letters sent to him. As a result, he asked neighbours to read Council letters for him which caused embarrassment. He said receiving documents electronically would have been more accessible and manageable, enabling him to address his council tax responsibilities more effectively despite his visual impairment.
3. Mr X said he is confused about how much he owes and how much he has paid. He said the unexpected deductions from his benefits have caused financial stress and impacted on his wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information and documents provided by Mr X and the Council. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
7. I considered the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, set out below.

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What I found

What should have happened

Council tax

8. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
9. To use the various powers available to a council to recover unpaid council tax, the council must apply to a magistrate’s court for a liability order. 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.

Reasonable adjustments

10. The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and applies to any body which carries out a public function. It aims to make sure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
11. Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them.

What happened

12. In 2023, Mr X complained to the Council that it had sent him information about his council tax in a format he could not read. He said he needed the information sent electronically because he is blind and cannot read the Council’s letters.
13. The Council said council tax letters are always sent by post and there is no facility to send them electronically instead. This is because these documents are generated by the system. It said Mr X could register for the Council’s portal where he could register to get council tax documents electronically.
14. The Council agreed to send all communications electronically by email where possible. It put a note on Mr X’s file.
15. In 2024, Mr X asked the Council why it was deducting money from his benefits without his consent. The Council emailed Mr X with a breakdown of how and when it had told him how much council tax he owed, that it had taken action in the courts because he had not paid his council tax, and how much was being deducted from his benefits. It said it could deduct money from his benefits if he did not pay his council tax.
16. A few months later, the Council emailed Mr X. It said it could not send council tax document in an email in the first instance. But it can issue these documents, send them to him in the post, and then email him the same information. It said this met his request for a reasonable adjustment.
17. The Council said it had not effectively administered Mr X’s council tax. It said this resulted in Mr X having difficulties reconciling his council tax arrears. It said this meant there were deductions from his benefits. It apologised for this.
18. The Council said it had stopped deducting money from Mr X’s benefits. It said it would refund him what it had deducted from his benefits, and would not take any further action to recover the outstanding council tax arrears. The Council apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Analysis

Council tax information provided in a different format

19. Mr X is blind and asked the Council to provide information about his council tax charges in an electronic format as a reasonable adjustment. Mr X complained the Council will not provide that information in the format he requested.
20. Initially, the Council said it was not able to send Mr X information about his council tax by email due to the Council’s system. The Council considered how it could meet Mr X’s needs. It came up with a solution, which was for Mr X to register for the Council’s portal to access his council tax documents and ask for them to be sent electronically.
21. Later, the Council found a more effective way to meet Mr X’s needs. It made a reasonable adjustment to send Mr X his council tax bills by post, but also within the body of an email and as an attachment as well.
22. Mr X says he is happy with this outcome.
23. I do not find the Council at fault for the way it initially responded to Mr X’s request for a reasonable adjustment. Councils do not have to agree to every request a person makes for a reasonable adjustment. Councils must make adjustments where it is reasonable to do so. I find the Council considered how to help Mr X access his documents and made adjustments it felt it were reasonable to make.
24. Later, the Council found it was able to make a further reasonable adjustment. Mr X is happy with this and can now access council tax information. This is positive. I do not find the Council at fault for not coming to this decision earlier. I find the Council had due regard to its duties to make reasonable adjustments.

Benefit deductions

25. Mr X complained the Council took money out of his benefits without his consent.
26. The Council deducted money from Mr X’s benefits because he had not paid council tax for some time.
27. Mr X explained that he was not fully aware of his council tax obligations and was not able to keep track of them due to his disability and mental health. Mr X said he feels that deducting even a small amount of money from his weekly benefits was unfair because of his compromised ability to manage such issues.
28. The Council was entitled to take action to recover outstanding council tax arrears. It was entitled to deduct money from Mr X’s benefits because he failed to make any payments towards his council tax. The Council did not need Mr X’s consent to deduct money from his benefits. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.
29. Further to this, the Council has since decided to stop deducting money from Mr X’s benefits and has refunded him the amount that had been deducted. This is positive.
30. Mr X wanted to know why the Council took two years to deduct money from his benefits. I find the Council was giving Mr X an opportunity to make payments on his council tax arrears before it took recovery action. I find the Council had little option but to resort to deducting money from his benefits because Mr X had not paid his council tax.
31. Mr X said he never received any communication from the Council which explained how much money it was deducting from his benefits. I have seen an email the Council sent Mr X which set out exactly what he owed, why he owed it, and what deductions the Council was making from his benefits.

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Final decision

32. I have completed my investigation. I do not uphold Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman