Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the handling of her council tax account. The Council has reduced Miss X’s monthly repayment amounts, and an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different or worthwhile outcome. It was reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if she wanted to challenge her council tax liability.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained about the Council’s handling of her council tax account. Miss X says the Council failed to bill her correctly for months. This left her with a large council tax debt and monthly repayments of £300 she cannot afford. Miss X wants the Council to reduce or amend the arrears she says only built up because of the Council’s mistake.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

4. 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)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X complained about the Council’s handling of her council tax account. Miss X said the Council had wrongly applied a student discount from June 2024 to March 2025. Miss X was unhappy with the monthly repayment amount the Council had calculated. Miss X wanted the Council to cancel her liability for the period in question. Miss X is unhappy with the time the Council took to respond after she raised the above issues.
9. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint. It said that when it issued her March 2024 council tax bill, she was a full-time student and exempt from council tax. The Council said it should have amended and reviewed the exemption between June and September 2024. It said this did not happen and led to the Council continuing to apply the student discount between June 2024 and March 2025. This was wrong as Miss X was no longer a student.
10. The Council apologised for what had happened and said it was due to changes to its systems. It also apologised for the delay in responding when Miss X contacted the Council in March 2025. The Council set up a payment plan of £300 a month for Miss X to pay the outstanding amount. The Council signposted Miss X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if she wanted to challenge her council tax liability.
11. In response to our enquires the Council said it had calculated the original monthly payment figure of £300 based on information from Miss X. It said this had been reduced to £100 a month after it received more information. The Council said Miss X has been paying the reduced amount since January 2026.
12. While I recognise Miss X’s frustrations, we will not start an investigation into her complaint. The reasons for this are:
• The Council has accepted it should have reviewed Miss X’s account. It has apologised for this and explained what happened. It is unlikely that we could add anything to the Council’s response. While there was some fault by the Council, Miss X was liable for council tax from June 2024 to March 2025. It was open to Miss X to contact the Council about the discount it continued to apply even when she was no longer a student.
• The Council directed Miss X to the Valuation Tribunal if she wanted to dispute her council tax liability. The Tribunal is the appropriate body to consider any disagreement about whether Miss X is liable for the council tax. It was reasonable for Miss X to appeal if she did not believe she was liable for council tax.
• Miss X was unhappy with the monthly amount charged by the Council to clear her council tax debt. The Council has reduced the monthly payment and it says the new amount is based on information from Miss X. Further investigation by us would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome. The Council is entitled to pursue the Council tax debt, and a payment plan is what we would expect it to offer.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. It is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome, and it was reasonable for Miss X to appeal if she wanted to challenge her council tax liability.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman