Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of council tax liability for several flats Mr X owns. This is because the complaints are late. There is no evidence of fault regarding more recent matters.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to respond promptly to his queries about council tax accounts for properties he owns. The Council had passed the accounts for periods between 2015 and 2025 to an enforcement agent. This has caused Mr X stress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In June 2025 Mr X complained to the Council regarding liability for council tax for several flats he owns. He disagreed with the liability periods and said he and his managing agent had tried to query the bills over a long period of time.
6. The Council replied setting out the liability for the flats for periods from 2015-25. It agreed it would amend some liability dates in 2016. It also revised liability for a property in 2025. This reduced the total liability to £1614.
7. The Council did not accept that it had delayed responding to enquiries or that it was inaccessible. It did not agree it should remove enforcement agent fees.
8. The complaints Mr X raised regarding liability for the properties in 2016 are late. As explained in paragraph 2, it is reasonable to expect a complainant to raise a complaint to the Ombudsman within 12 months. There are no good reasons for the delay in Mr x making a complaint about these matters.
9. The Council did not consider there was delay or lack of response to Mr X’s enquiries. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in respect of the Council’s responses or its action regarding recent liability matters to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason for this. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant investigation regarding more recent matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman