Summary: We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint about how the Council handled his missed Council Tax payment. This is because there is not enough remaining injustice to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr Z complains about the Council’s handling of his missed Council Tax payment and related complaint. He says its poor communication and delays caused him distress and inconvenience. Mr Z wants the Council to improve its service communications and provide compensation for his inconvenience.

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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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, 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 I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. In its complaint response, the Council upheld parts of Mr Z’s complaint. It accepted issues in its communications to Mr Z about his missed Council Tax payment. It also said it had not properly handled Mr Z’s verbal complaint.
5. The Council apologised to Mr Z and explained how it would prevent these issues happening again. This included making changes to its Council Tax payment system and reminding officers of the complaints policy.
6. The Council refused Mr Z’s request for compensation. It said this was because it had only charged Mr Z for the Council Tax he owes so Mr Z had not suffered any financial loss.
7. Mr Z is not satisfied with the Council’s response about its complaint handling. He says it does not address the distress and inconvenience he experienced or meet his request for compensation.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council’s apology and other actions are an appropriate response to Mr Z’s complaint. There is not enough remaining injustice to warrant investigation, and it is unlikely our investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint because there is not enough remaining injustice to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman