Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax. This is because his complaint is late and there is no good reason to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council continued to take council tax payments from him when he should have been exempted from council tax liability.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X first complained to the Council in June 2022 that it had taken council tax payments for a period in which he felt he should have been exempt from paying, because of his circumstances.
7. Mr X complained to us almost three years’ later in April 2025. There appears to be no good reason Mr X could not have complained to us in time, with the support of the advice centre which was helping him if necessary.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late, and there is no good reason to begin an investigation now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman