Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the information provided by the Council about his council tax query. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council or achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the information and customer service provided by the Council about his council tax query. He says the Council misinformed him and failed to respond within its own customer service guidelines.

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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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council misinformed him about the amount of Council tax he would be liable to pay for each month. The Council say billing is made on assumptions provided at the time and the amount is calculated yearly. If circumstances change then so will the amount owed.
6. As the Council has fully explained why Mr X’s council tax bill changed, we would not be able to add to this investigation carried out by the Council. Mr X has requested a partial refund on his council tax due to the misinformation. However, as part of our role we cannot require the Council to refund council tax applied correctly. We therefore cannot achieve the resolution Mr X is seeking.
7. Mr X also complains the Council has failed to meet its own timescales for responding to the complaint. However, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council or achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman