West Northamptonshire Council (24 003 017)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Jul 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of unpaid council tax by taking action in the magistrates court and involving enforcement agents. The matter has been subject to court proceedings and the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council issuing summonses and taking court action for unpaid council tax which eh says he was unaware of. He says he has not received confirmation of a liability order and the use of enforcement agents is unreasonable.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he was issued a summons for a court hearing concerning unpaid council tax. He claims he had not received an original council tax bill and attended the court hearing. The Council withdrew the summons but, as it did not receive the payments required, a further summons was issued and Mr X attended a further court hearing.
- The Court granted the Council a liability order for the full amount and it has subsequently passed the debt to recovery agents. Mr X says he has challenged the process because he has not been informed about the order details. The Council says it has written to Mr X about the order and the recovery process and it has a duty to recover the arrears.
- We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings. This commences when a summons is issued. The magistrates court gave Mr X an opportunity to present his case at the hearing and it is the court’s decision to issue a liability order, not the Council’s.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of unpaid council tax by taking action in the magistrates court and involving enforcement agents. The matter has been subject to court proceedings and the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman