Summary: Miss X complained the Council delayed in dealing with her request for a Single Person Discount and did not respond to her complaint. We found fault in the Council’s delay in dealing with Miss X’s request, its failure to properly consider information she had provided in support of her application, and its complaint handling. These faults caused Miss X avoidable frustration, uncertainty, and time and trouble. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has failed to determine her application for a single person council tax discount and has not responded to her correspondence or complaint. She says the delay has continued for approximately 17 months. As a result, she says she has been overcharged council tax since August 2024 and has experienced frustration and financial injustice. She seeks reimbursement of overpaid council tax and a remedy to put thing right.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

4. I have investigated the Council’s handling of Miss X’s request for a Single Person Discount, including delay, communication, and complaint handling.
5. I have not decided whether Miss X is entitled to a Single Person Discount, or from what date any discount should apply. That is for the Council to decide when it reviews and progresses her application. If the Council makes a decision Miss X disagrees with, she may have appeal rights to the Valuation Tribunal.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council were offered an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Council Tax

8. There are laws and regulations that control how councils collect council tax payments and how they can make people pay council tax they owe. (Council Tax [Administration and Enforcement] Regulations 1992)
9. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
10. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
11. Councils who want to recover unpaid council tax have to ask the magistrate’s court for a liability order against people it thinks owe it the money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed.
12. Most often councils take what is owed directly from the person’s benefits, from their wages (called getting an attachment of earnings order) or using enforcement agents. The council can decide how to recover what is owed but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

Single Person Discount (SPD)

13. Council Tax discounts are set by the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (LGFA 1992). Where only one adult is resident (ignoring any “disregarded” persons), a 25% discount applies. (LGFA 1992, s11.)
14. There is no fixed statutory timescale to process an SPD application. However, authorities are expected to consider and determine applications within a reasonable time and to tell the applicant promptly if further information is needed, as part of general public law fairness and good administrative practice.
15. Councils may request information where necessary to assess or review entitlement to a council tax discount. The Council’s published guidance says it may review discounts from time to time and, where it asks for information, residents must respond. It says where requested information is not provided, a discount may be removed and full council tax may remain payable.

Good administrative practice and remedy

16. The Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Administrative Practice expect bodies to act fairly and proportionately, be open and accountable, put things right, and seek continuous improvement. In this particular case, in practice we would expect this to mean:
• Promptly acknowledging and assessing discount applications;
• Explaining without delay if a form is incomplete/invalid and what is needed;

Back to top

What happened

17. I have included a summary of some of the key events in this complaint. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that took place.
18. Miss X is liable for council tax at her home address.
19. In August 2024, Miss X contacted the Council and said she would become the sole occupant of her property from late August 2024. She asked the Council to amend her council tax account and apply a Single Person Discount.
20. The Council issued an automated acknowledgement stating that requests may take longer than usual to process because of high demand and that responses may take up to 90 days.
21. In September 2024, the Council sent Miss X a Single Person Discount application form.
22. In November 2024, Miss X contacted the Council again and asked whether her August 2024 update had been received and whether the relevant changes had been made to her council tax account.
23. In December 2024, the Council responded and said no change had been made to the account because it had not received a completed application form. It sent the form again.
24. Miss X returned the form later in December 2024.
25. In January 2025, the Council wrote to Miss X and asked her to provide forwarding addresses for all occupants who had vacated the property so it could consider the Single Person Discount request.
26. In March 2025, Miss X made a formal complaint to the Council. She said she had first contacted the Council in August 2024, that the matter remained unresolved, and that she was dissatisfied with how her request had been handled. She asked the Council to refund any overpayments and amend her account to reflect sole occupancy.
27. Miss X later brought her complaint to us. She said the Council had delayed in dealing with her request for a Single Person Council Tax Discount and had not responded properly to her correspondence or complaint. She said this caused frustration and delayed resolution of the matter.

Enquiries

28. As part of my investigation, I made enquiries to the Council. Of note, it said that:
• It had not made a formal decision on Miss X’s Single Person Discount request because it said it was waiting for further information about the occupants who had vacated the property.
• Its records showed a Single Person Discount form was sent to Miss X in September 2024 and further correspondence was issued in December 2024 and January 2025.
• Council tax remained payable at the full charge while the request remained unresolved.
• No recovery or enforcement action had been taken and the council tax account was up to date.
• Miss X’s March 2025 complaint had not been responded to and had not been passed to the complaints team.
• It said it had experienced a backlog in handling enquiries and had recruited temporary staff and was interviewing for permanent posts to increase resources.
29. After receiving my draft decision, Miss X provided further evidence which showed she had supplied forwarding information relating to the occupant who had vacated the property. I shared this evidence with the Council. The Council accepted this information had been provided and agreed to my revised recommendations.

Back to top

Analysis

Delay in dealing with Miss X’s Single Person Discount request

30. Under the Local Government Finance Act 1992, a person may be entitled to a Single Person Discount where only one adult is resident in a property. There is no fixed statutory timescale for councils to determine such requests. However, councils should deal with applications and related correspondence within a reasonable time and tell applicants promptly where further information is needed.
31. Miss X told the Council in August 2024 that she would become the sole occupant of her property from 28 August 2024 and asked it to amend her council tax account accordingly. The Council issued an automated response which said requests may take up to 90 days because of high demand.
32. The Council sent Miss X a Single Person Discount form in September 2024. Miss X contacted the Council again in November 2024 asking whether the changes had been made to her account. The Council responded in December 2024 and said it had not received a completed application form. It then sent the form again. Miss X returned the form the following day.
33. I have considered the Council’s explanation that it had a backlog in handling enquiries and had recruited temporary staff while also increasing permanent staffing.
34. I do not find fault in the Council requiring Miss X to complete an application form before progressing her request. The Council was entitled to seek information relevant to a claimed entitlement to Single Person Discount. Its published guidance also says where it asks for information, residents must respond.
35. However, there were avoidable delays in the Council’s handling of Miss X’s request and correspondence. Miss X first contacted the Council in August 2024, but the Council did not issue the application form until September 2024. It then took until December 2024 to respond substantively after Miss X chased the matter in November 2024. While I recognise the Council says it had a backlog, this does not remove its responsibility to deal with requests and correspondence within a reasonable time, in keeping with good administrative practice. This delay was fault.
36. Miss X returned the application form in December 2024. The Council later contacted her in January 2025 requesting further information about the occupants who had vacated the property, including forwarding addresses.
37. I am satisfied the Council was entitled to seek further information before deciding whether Miss X was entitled to a Single Person Discount. It was entitled to make enquiries it considered relevant to establishing occupancy and assessing entitlement.
38. However, during my investigation, Miss X provided evidence showing she had supplied the forwarding information the Council said it required in relation to the previous occupier. I shared this evidence with the Council. In response, the Council accepted the information had been provided.
39. In light of this evidence, I am not satisfied the Council properly considered the information Miss X had supplied. The Council continued to treat the application as outstanding on the basis that forwarding information had not been provided, despite evidence showing it had been. This was fault.
40. This fault contributed to the continued delay in progressing Miss X's application. While I have already identified some earlier delay in the Council's handling of the request, I am satisfied the subsequent failure to properly consider information provided by Miss X significantly prolonged the matter.
41. Miss X said she later discovered the Council's January 2025 email after regaining access to her email account. However, in light of the evidence that the forwarding information had already been supplied, I do not consider this alters my finding that the Council should have progressed the application sooner.
42. On balance, I find fault both in the Council's earlier delay in handling Miss X's request and in its subsequent failure to properly consider information she had provided. These faults caused avoidable frustration, uncertainty, and time and trouble in pursuing the matter.

Complaint handling

43. Miss X made a formal complaint to the Council in March 2025. In that complaint, she said the matter remained unresolved and she was dissatisfied with the handling of her request for a Single Person Discount.
44. The Council accepts Miss X’s complaint was not responded to and was not passed to its complaints team. That was fault. The Council should have considered and responded to Miss X’s complaint in line with its complaint procedures.
45. I have considered the injustice arising from this fault. It was likely frustrating for Miss X that the Council did not respond to her complaint. I cannot say with certainty what would have happened had the Council responded in line with its complaints procedure. However, a complaint investigation may have identified earlier that Miss X had already provided the information the Council believed was outstanding. In the circumstances, I consider this fault contributed to Miss X’s frustration and uncertainty.

Summary

46. I have found fault in the Council’s delay in dealing with Miss X’s request, its failure to properly consider information she had provided in support of her application, and its complaint handling.
47. The Council was entitled to request information relevant to deciding whether Miss X was entitled to a Single Person Discount. However, the evidence shows Miss X had provided the forwarding information the Council said it required. The Council continued to treat the application as outstanding on the basis that this information had not been supplied. That was fault.
48. These faults caused Miss X avoidable frustration, uncertainty, and significant time and trouble in pursuing the matter over an extended period. I cannot determine whether Miss X is entitled to a Single Person Discount, or from what date. That is for the Council to decide when it reviews and progresses the application.

Back to top

Agreed Action

49. To recognise the avoidable frustration caused by the faults I have identified, and to help bring clarity to the outstanding Single Person Discount request, the Council should:
1. Review and progress Miss X's SPD application in light of the information already provided and notify her of its decision.
2. Pay Miss X £250 to recognise the avoidable frustration, uncertainty, and time and trouble caused by the faults identified.
3. Apologise to Miss X for the delay in handling her Single Person Discount application, the failure to properly consider information she had provided, and the failure to respond to her complaint.
50. The Council should complete actions a to c within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision and provide us with evidence it has complied with these actions.

Back to top

Decision

51. I found fault in the Council’s handling of Miss X’s Single Person Discount request and complaint. The Council delayed dealing with her request, failed to properly consider information she had provided in support of her application, and failed to respond to her complaint. These faults caused Miss X avoidable frustration, uncertainty, and time and trouble. The Council agreed to my recommendations.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman