Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a refund of council tax. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault. The Council has explained its reasons for providing the refund by bank transfer rather than cheque. The Council has explained how it handles personal data such as storing bank details, which is in line with its policy.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council should have provided the Council tax refund by cheque. He says the Council insisted on a bank transfer and he is unhappy that it now has his financial data. He wants the Council to change its method of refund to include cheques, so it does not have to store bank details.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about the matters in paragraph one.
6. The Council replied and said its finance department make all payments by bank transfer and has no option to issue cheques by its bank. It confirmed it made the refund to his bank account via the details provided by him on 5 June. It also confirmed it would only use the bank details for the purpose of the refund, and it would hold them securely for six years.
7. We will not investigate this complaint about a refund of council tax. This is because the documents on file confirm the Council has made the refund by bank transfer as it cannot issue cheques. We could not achieve the outcome Mr X wants of the Council changing its method of refunding payments and there is no significant injustice caused to Mr X as he has had the refund.
8. The Council has provided information about how it handles personal data, and it has acted in line with its policy. So, there is not enough evidence of fault in its processing of Mr X’s personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. The ICO would be better placed to consider Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s handling of personal data.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a refund of council tax. This is because the documents on file confirm the refund has been paid by bank transfer as the Council cannot issue cheques. The Council has provided Mr X with information about how it handles personal data and has followed its policy when handling Mr X’s data. There is not enough evidence of fault or a significant enough injustice to justify an Ombudsman investigation. We could not achieve the outcomes Mr X wants, and the ICO is better placed to consider concerns about the processing of personal data.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman