London Borough of Barnet (24 003 101)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council managed changes in the complainant’s circumstances relating to council tax. This is because the complaint has been resolved.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the way the Council handled changes to her council tax and responded to her complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and updates from the Council and Mrs X. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- For the past couple of years Mrs X has had many changes in her council tax. She says she reported all the changes to the Council and continued to pay by direct debit.
- Mrs X complained to the Council that it repeatedly asked for information she had already provided and failed to explain why she had arrears when there was an active direct debit.
- The Council provided several explanations but maintained Mrs X had arrears. It apologised for some delay in some responses. In July it issued a further reply. It provided a breakdown of accounts for previous years. It also apologised for an error it had just identified and, having corrected the error, reduced the arrears.
- Mrs X is satisfied with the explanation the Council has now provided and with the reduction in the arrears. Mrs X also noted it is disappointing the Council took so long to provide a resolution.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has corrected an error and provided a response which Mrs X is satisfied with.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman