Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax matters. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this. The law says we cannot investigate the liability order proceedings.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council delayed notifying her about council tax liability for four years, and did not explain it. She says the Council presented misleading statements of account at liability order hearings. This led the Council to obtain a charging order against her. She also says the Council failed to respond to her complaint queries.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended).
4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained to the Council in July 2024 regarding council tax demands she received in early 2024. She queried a significant direct debit increase in February 2024.
7. The Council responded between July and September 2024. It explained the outstanding council tax for 2019-2023. Ms X remained dissatisfied. The Council obtained a charging order in August 2025.
8. Ms X was aware of the council tax matter from early 2024. She complained to the Ombudsman in September 2025. This complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this. Therefore, we will not investigate it.
9. We cannot investigate the liability order hearing as it is part of court proceedings as set out in paragraph 3.
10. We will not investigate the complaint response issues because we are not investigation the substantive issues.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for this. We cannot investigate the liability order hearings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman