Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about what took place at court or the granting of a council tax liability order as these matters are not within our remit. We will not investigate recovery action taken by the Council as it is unlikely we will find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not follow correct procedure when it took him to court for council tax arrears. Mr X also complains a Council officer told him at court that the liability order would be put on hold, but this did not happen – the court hearing went ahead and the court granted the liability order against Mr X. Mr X says he has been caused emotional distress and has incurred costs in having the liability order set aside.

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The Ombudsman’s role and power

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X is unhappy as the Council took him to court after issuing only one reminder letter when he fell behind in council tax payments.
8. The Council’s policy and the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 provide for a billing authority to initiate court proceedings if a council tax account is not brought up to date after a reminder notice is issued. We will not investigate as it is unlikely therefore that we will find fault by the Council.
9. As per paragraph three, we cannot investigate what happened at court or the court’s decision to award a liability order against Mr X.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s recovery action as it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council. We cannot investigate what happened in court and so cannot investigate the granting of the liability order/what took place at the proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman