London Borough of Barnet (25 001 825)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Aug 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Councils poor communication. This is because further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council took too long to resolve an issue with payment of Council tax.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X complains the Council did not act quickly enough and she had to make many phone calls. Messages were passed to the correct team but Mrs X was not able to speak with them directly. Mrs X could email the team directly but there was a delay in it responding.
- The Council said it agreed with Mrs X that it would have been better to resolve the situation with a telephone call. It apologised and said it would remind officers to call customers rather than sending multiple emails on complex cases.
- The Council also said it had decided that holds should be in place for longer so it could consider all the evidence. It had identified a need for staff to oversee holds on accounts in dispute more thoroughly.
- I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has apologised to Mrs X and has taken action to improve its services. It is unlikely that an investigation would lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman