Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his council tax accounts and recovery action. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his council tax accounts. He says the Council is discriminating against him and the matter has caused distress. He wants the Council to allow him to make a direct payment plan, apologise for the discrimination he has faced and train staff about disability awareness.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response, the Council set out the history of Mr X’s council tax debts. It listed the opportunities it had provided him over several years to repay the debt directly to the Council. It said most recently, it had offered him a direct repayment arrangement in May 2024. It said Mr X had broken each arrangement including the most recent one, and so the Council had passed the debt to its enforcement agents. It said because it had provided him multiple opportunities to repay the debt directly to the Council over the years, but he had not kept to these arrangements, it would not agree to recall the debt. It advised him to contact the enforcement agents directly to arrange a repayment plan.
6. We will not investigate this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council has obtained a liability order from the court for the debt and so is entitled to use a range of recovery methods, including the use of enforcement agents to collect the unpaid debt. I have seen no evidence that the Council is discriminating against him in how it has reached its decisions or considered his complaint.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman