Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to consider requests about council tax payments and arrears. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of Mr X’s requests for a payment arrangement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to respond to emails which he sent asking for a reduced payment arrangement for his council tax. Says he did not receive any responses and the Council subsequently took court action and employed enforcement agents to recover the debt.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

6. Me X says the Council failed to respond to his emailed requests for a payment arrangement from April 2024. The Council told him it has no record of receiving his emails and asked him to provide the email attachments and copies of the acknowledgement receipts which he says he received.
7. Because Mr X fell behind with payments and did not contact the recovery team the recovery process resulted in a summons , a liability order and costs from enforcement agents.
8. Mr X has not provided copies of evidence that the emails he sent were received either to the Council or to us. The recovery process is largely automated so if his emails were not correctly addressed the court procedure would apply. He received a summons with the correct email address to contact in June but did not attend the hearing or make an arrangement by July when the hearing was scheduled.
9. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings. This commences with the issue of a summons in council tax cases.
10. Since Mr X made a formal complaint the Council has taken the case back from the enforcement agents as a goodwill gesture and agreed a monthly payment arrangement with Mr X subject to his adhering to the scheme.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to consider requests about council tax payments and arrears. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of Mr X’s requests for a payment arrangement.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman