Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council (25 017 543)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax delay because the matter has been remedied.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council unreasonably delayed setting up his Council tax account so that he was faced with an increased series of payments.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X became liable for Council tax in 2025. He says that the Council unreasonably delayed setting up the account for two months until August 2025. He says that the increased monthly payments are unreasonable.
- The Council apologised for the delay but advised that payments still needed to be made to avoid enforcement action.
- I consider that the Council’s apology is a sufficient remedy to this complaint. Where an account is delayed the Ombudsman would expect a person to set payments aside to cover an increased future bill. The Ombudsman would not expect the Council to waive a liability for Council tax in such cases. The increased payment over a shorter period is not so great as to warrant a longer period of payment as a remedy.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it has been remedied.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman