London Borough of Tower Hamlets (24 008 256)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 10 Jun 2025

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we can achieve no worthwhile outcome for Mr P’s liability for council tax, and it would be reasonable for him to ask a court to decide whether the Council has complied with the law on adjustments for his disabilities in the way it has handled the matter.

The complaint

  1. Mr P says:
      1. the Council did not adjust its procedures to meet his disability needs which meant he could not easily apply to it to reduce the council tax for his home by one band because of his disability;
      2. the council department which knew he had moved into an adapted apartment under a council scheme did not tell the council tax department, so he had to apply from scratch anyway;
      3. the Council is continuing to fail to send him information in large print as requested, and in line with standards issued by the UK Association for Accessible formats and referred to in government guidance; and
      4. this delayed the process and caused him avoidable time and effort.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 there is no worthwhile outcome achievable from us investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
  2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
  3. I gave the complainant an opportunity to comment on my draft decision, and considered his comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

  1. Mr P’s home is adapted to meet the needs of his disability which makes it eligible for a council tax discount amounting to a one band reduction. He says, however, when he approached the Council it asked for a written application which he could not complete because of his disability.
  2. When Mr P complained to us, the Council had provided officer support to make the application, but there was a delay caused by issues about the property address. The Council confirmed on 23 December 2024 it had also had to visit the property to ensure it and the occupier met the conditions for a band reduction discount. It said it had agreed and put the band reduction in place. If the Council has not backdated the reduction to the date Mr P expects he can seek a review and then appeal against the relevant demand for council tax.
  3. Mr P’s complaint about two council departments not sharing relevant information is not a separate enough matter, because the Council was clear its council tax officer had to visit to confirm the status of the property as adapted before it could agree the relevant discount.
  4. I recognise Mr P is unhappy the Council has, in this and other cases of his, not adjusted its procedures enough to meet the needs of his disabilities. We could only consider whether a council has considered what adjustments it is reasonable for it to make, not whether it has met its duties under the Equality Act 2010. The Council considered and made some adjustments for Mr P, and the rest, including whether it continued to make adjustments it had agreed, is a matter for a court of law. I am satisfied it would be reasonable for Mr P to apply to court to decide whether the Council complied with the law.

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Final decision .

  1. We will not investigate Mr P’s complaint. This is because we can achieve no worthwhile outcome for his council tax, and it would be reasonable for him to ask a court to decide whether the Council has complied with the law on adjustments for disability.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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