Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr Y’s Council Tax bill because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains about his Council Tax bill. He says the Council has incorrectly billed his property as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
2. Mr Y also complains about the Council’s decision to pass debts to an enforcement agent.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).
6. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mr Y and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The Council assessed Mr Y’s property as being a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in 2019, after reviewing its Electors register. Mr Y disputes this, and says his property is not a HMO. This part of the complaint is late. We expect a person to complain to us within 12 months of being aware of a matter and Mr Y did not complain to us until 2025. Even if this part of the complaint was not late, we would not investigate because Mr Y can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if he disputes liability for Council Tax and it is reasonable to expect him to do this.
10. Mr Y also complains about the Council’s decision to pass debts to an enforcement agent. Mr Y was aware of this in 2019, and did not complain to us until 2025, therefore this part of the complaint is also late.
11. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we also may not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
12. Mr Y has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor matters such as complaint handling.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman