Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s council tax. This is because the Council has agreed an appropriate remedy for the identified injustice. We are unlikely to find evidence of fault or significant injustice to warrant investigation into Ms X’s other complaints.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council was wrong to charge her council tax for a period she had moved out from July to August 2025.
2. She also complains the Council did not send a breakdown, ignored payments she made, did not consider her circumstances, did not properly respond to her complaints, and unfairly added £100 summons costs while she had a complaint outstanding.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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).
4. 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, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1 and 2.
7. The Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaints confirmed it had revised her council tax liability to end on 31 August 2025 based on her tenancy agreement end date. It also:
• Provided a breakdown of the council tax charge, payments it had received, discounts, council tax support and recovery costs of £100.
• Stated it had taken recovery action following statutory council tax rules.
• Explained it passed Ms X’s account to its enforcement agent because Ms X had missed a payment.
• Noted her circumstances, but said it could not change the payment date for council tax unless she paid by direct debit.
• Provided information about discretionary relief, discounts and advice services.
• Apologised for its delay in responding to her stage one complaint.
8. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find fault causing Ms X injustice because the Council said it ended Ms X’s council tax liability on 31 August 2025, but it did not advise her of her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
9. We will not investigate the other matters Ms X raised because it is unlikely we would find enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating. The Council explained the reasons it progressed recovery action. While Councils can consider pausing recovery action when a complaint is outstanding, there is no requirement to do so. There is no significant injustice due to the Council’s delay in responding to Ms X’s stage one complaint that would justify our involvement.

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Agreed action

10. At our invitation the Council agreed to remedy the potential injustice by writing to Ms X within one month of this decision to confirm the reasons for the liability end date, and setting out details of her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council agreed to take appropriate action to remedy the potential injustice. There is insufficient evidence of fault or significant injustice in other matters to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman