Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council has failed to apply council tax reduction since 2023. It is reasonable for Ms X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if Ms X disagrees with the Council’s decision on her entitlement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to comply with recommendations we made in previous decisions we have issued about council tax reduction. She said because of this, the Council had failed to apply council tax reduction to her account since April 2023. She wants the Council to backdate this entitlement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. In exceptional circumstances, councils can effectively write off some or all of a council tax debt by using their discretionary powers under S13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended). In this decision I refer to this as s13A relief.
9. We issued a final decision with the reference 21006085 in early 2022. In this decision we found fault with the Council’s handling of Ms X’s request for S13A relief for the 2021/22 tax year. We asked the Council to send Ms X a financial information form to complete and to consider backdating any resulting award of relief to 2021.
10. Ms X made a subsequent complaint to us that the Council failed to backdate the S13A relief from 2021. We issued a final decision with the reference 23017710 in June 2024. We found the Council had awarded Ms X S13A relief from 2023/24 , but had not made a decision on her 2012/22 application. The Council subsequently confirmed it had awarded Ms X S13A relief for the 2021/22 year and refunded the amount Ms X had paid in full. We are satisfied the Council has considered her s13A application for tax year 2021/22 and 2023/24 and will not consider these matters further.
11. Ms X made a further complaint the Council had delayed processing an application for council tax reduction. We issued final decision with the reference 23007765 in May 2024. We asked the Council to write to Ms X with a decision on her application for council tax support setting out her review rights. The Council sent Ms X that letter on 14 June 2024. Therefore, we are satisfied it complied with our recommendation. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
12. Ms X states the Council based its decision to refuse her council tax reduction on inaccurate information about her income. If Ms X disagrees with the Council’s decision, she is not eligible for council tax support, then it is reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal as this is the body responsible for considering disputes about council tax reduction, not the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman