Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax because decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained the Council billed her for council tax using an online service, rather than by post, without consulting her. Miss Y, who suffers from a condition which means she cannot use computers for extended periods, feels this is a breach of the Equality Act.
2. Miss Y says the issue has caused her upset and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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 Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss Y signed up for online account for council tax in October 2023. In April 2024, the Council began to send all online account users their council tax billing electronically. This meant Miss Y did not receive a paper copy of her council tax bill. When Miss Y became aware of this she complained.
6. The Council explained in a letter in April 2024 that she could revert to paper billing for her council tax by deregistering the online account. It included a paper copy of the bill Miss Y had complained about as an enclosure to the letter.
7. Miss Y complained further in May. The Council responded, apologising for the issue Miss Y had experienced and that information about online billing had not been clear enough for her.
8. Miss Y was unhappy with the response, saying she had been charged by her bank for failing to have sufficient funds to pay direct debits as she was unaware the direct debit amount had increased for her council tax. She asked the Council for a further response.
9. The Council responded in June. It showed Miss Y had been able to log into her online account for council tax and download copies of her bill on three occasions on the same day in April 2024. Miss Y says this was in fact her children and she was unaware for a further two days due to illness.
10. The Council collected the council tax by direct debit a further two days (four in total since the bill was downloaded). The Council’s complaint response therefore said that it did not feel Miss Y had been disadvantaged by the change as she was aware of it a number of days before the amount was taken. It also said Miss Y could opt out of the service if she was unhappy with it, as it had previously mentioned. Miss Y then approached us.

Analysis

11. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered a serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss of injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
12. In this instance, Miss Y was aware of the council tax bill having been provided online at least two days, if not more, before the council tax payment was due and made. She therefore had sufficient time to alter any financial payments prior to the direct debit being taken. As she was able to make the payments and had time to adjust any other payments if she wished, we would not consider her to have suffered an injustice.
13. Miss Y has also been given information which she, potentially with the assistance of her children, can use to stop online billing for her council tax and return to paper billing if she wishes. While this may slightly inconvenience her, this is not significant enough to justify use of public funds to investigate.
14. Any further emotional impact Miss Y may have experienced is also not sufficiently serious a distress to justify our investigation. We will therefore not investigate.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman