Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about council tax because part of it is late and any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council sent him a bill for unpaid council tax but did not explain what the charge was. He also complains about how a member of staff handled his information. He says he had to pay money to a bailiff.

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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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained the Council sent him a bill for unpaid council tax for 2018. He said the Council wouldn’t explain why he owed this money. The Council told Mr X he owed the money for the time he lived at a previous address. It said the court granted a liability order for the debt.
7. Mr X asked why the single person discount had not been applied. The Council explained that it had carried out a review in line with its statutory duty. It had written to Mr X to ask for confirmation he was still entitled to the discount. It removed the discount because Mr X did not respond.
8. The Council decided to apply the discount to the money owed and Mr X’s council tax account is now in credit. It also removed the liability and summons costs. It told Mr X it will refund him the money.
9. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. I do not consider Mr X has suffered significant enough harm or loss to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
10. Mr X has also complained about staff conduct and a potential data breach in 2019. This matter is late, and I can see no reason why Mr X could not have raised it sooner.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of it is late, and any injustice is not significant enough to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman