Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax recovery. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council had wrongly instructed enforcement agents to recover his unpaid council tax. Mr X said the Council deducted his council tax from his benefits, therefore, it should not have gone unpaid. He said a Council call handler was unhelpful after he contacted it for advice.

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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, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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My assessment

5. In the Council’s complaint response, it confirmed that since 2014 it had obtained several attachment orders to recover Mr X’s unpaid council tax from his benefits. It said the last attachment order was in relation to council tax for the year 2021/22. That attachment order ended in March 2014 after the debt was paid.
6. The Council said Mr X also had council tax arrears from 2022 onwards. It confirmed it had sent him council tax bills and reminders. In April 2024, it sought a Liability Order from the courts for the unpaid council tax; it passed that to the enforcement agents for recovery. The Council said it did not obtain a further attachment order because of the amount of debt outstanding and the length of time it would take to recover.
7. In its complaint response, the Council accepted the call handler who spoke to Mr X, did not respond to his concerns appropriately. It said they should have passed the call to a Corporate Debt Officer. The Council said it would arrange refresher training for call handlers. It said it would also arrange for a Corporate Debt Officer to contact Mr X to provide support around his council tax.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council passed his council tax arrears to enforcement agents. The Council wrote to him about his council tax, sought a Liability Order when it remained unpaid and decided an attachment order was not appropriate. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it has acted to justify our involvement. It has identified faults in its call handling and taken steps to address this. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman