Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his council tax account. This is because an investigation would not lead to any further outcomes. In addition, the likely fault has not caused any significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his council tax account. He says the Council:
• Failed to respond to his council tax registration requests and queries.
• Registered the wrong name on his council tax account.
• Failed to inform him that the account would default to cash payment if a direct debit wasn’t set up.
• Refused to tell him what evidence he had to submit to show he was a student.

He also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Council set up a council tax account for Mr X for his property in September 2024.
6. During its complaint investigation, the Council accepted fault with the following:
• That it registered an incorrect name when it set up the council account and apologised for this. Council confirmed this was human error by the officer.
• That the call advisor should have offered Mr X the option of paying his council tax by direct debit and that they failed to advise Mr X that the account would default to cash payment if no direct debt was set up.
• The Council missed the opportunity to provide Mr X with clear information about what evidence was required to enable him to apply for a student discount.
• There were delays with dealing with his complaint at stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure.
• There were some inadequacies in presentation and minor grammatical errors in its stage one complaint response.
7. The Council apologised for the distress, frustration, and time and trouble caused by the faults accepted. The Council also offered a financial payment of £100 to recognise the injustice caused.
8. It is acknowledged Mr X provided evidence that he and his property agent had contacted the Council in May and July to request he was registered for council tax. It is likely an investigation would find fault with the Council for failing to set up the council tax account earlier. However, I am satisfied the likely fault has not caused significant enough injustice to warrant an investigation.
9. Further, an investigation is not justified because the Council has appropriately remedied the injustice caused by the faults it has accepted. The Council has appropriately apologised and offered a financial payment of £100. This offer is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies and I do not consider an investigation would lead to any further recommendations.
10. The Council provided Mr X with clear information as to what evidence is required to allow it to consider whether he is eligible for a student discount in its stage two complaint response. In response to our enquiries, the Council also confirmed a student certificate should show the following:
• Mr X’s full name, address, and date of birth.
• The name and address of the educational establishment of his course.
• The name of the course he is studying.
• The start and end date of the course.
• Whether Mr X is studying full time or part time.
• The certificate needs to be stamped/signed by the educational establishment i.e. student administration office.
• Certificate needs to be dated by the student administration office.
11. It is open to Mr X to now obtain this evidence and to submit it to the Council to allow it to consider whether he is eligible for a student discount.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to any further outcomes. In addition, the likely fault has not caused any significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman