Birmingham City Council (25 010 298)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue a summons after sending Mr X one reminder regarding unpaid council tax. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council failed to send a second reminder before issuing a court summons for unpaid council tax.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained the Council failed to send a second reminder before issuing a court summons for unpaid council tax and charging him a fee. He said the Council did not follow its own process. Mr X also complained about the length of time it took the Council to respond to his complaint.
- The Council told Mr X it was not required to send two reminders before issuing a summons. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
- Mr X wants us to find the Council at fault. The Council is only required to send one reminder before issuing a summons. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
- Mr X has also complained about the Council’s delay in responding to his complaint. The Ombudsman will not investigate a Council’s complaint handling where it is not investigating the substantive issues.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman