Westmorland and Furness Council (25 001 838)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Jun 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about applying a Council tax second home premium. This is because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal, and it would be reasonable for Mr X to use this right of appeal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council has incorrectly imposed a Council tax second home premium. He also said the Council did not properly communicate with him over this matter. Mr X said the Council’s actions caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that the Council has incorrectly applied a Council tax second home premium, and that the Council did not initially respond to his complaint about their decision.
- We cannot determine whether an entitlement to a discount or exemption should apply; only a Valuation Tribunal can do this.
- Any dispute about liability, discounts or exemptions from Council tax are therefore a matter for the Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
- We will not investigate the Council’s delays, which was part of Mr X’s complaint because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about how the Council communicated about this matter where we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal, and it would be reasonable to expect him to use this right.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman