London Borough of Haringey (25 000 923)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about complaint handling because the Council has provided a satisfactory response.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of a council tax complaint. Mr X wants the Council to provide more information about what happened and pay him £250.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council that, as part of its consideration of a council tax complaint, it signposted him to us before he had completed the complaints process. Mr X followed the Council’s advice and contacted us; we asked him to go back to the Council to complete the complaints process.
- The Council considered the complaint about the complaint handling. The Council upheld the complaint, apologised, changed the templates which address when someone can complain to us, and provided a financial remedy of £80.
- I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory response by apologising, changing the template and making a symbolic payment. There is nothing more I would expect it to do. I appreciate Mr X wanted £250 but £80 is sufficient to reflect the inconvenience and his time and trouble. There were some delays by the Council in responding but the Council apologised and an additional remedy is not needed.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman