London Borough of Tower Hamlets (25 021 559)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax recovery action as the Council has withdrawn recovery action and removed costs and we are satisfied with those actions.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council wrongly pursued the business he represents for council tax and sought recovery by using enforcement agents (bailiffs). Mr X says this has wasted time and caused stress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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 remianing injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has told me that it has now rectified the account, taken the case back from its bailiffs and withdrawn all costs.
- I recognise that Mr X may remain unhappy with what took place, but I am satisfied with the actions the Council has taken to rectify the matter, and I do not consider our further involvement would be in the public interest, given our limited resources. We will not therefore investigate.
- Additionally, it is of note that the business had the right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal (VT) against the council’s decision it was liable for council tax and it is reasonable to expect it to have used that right. Had it done so, much of the injustice Mr X complains about would most likely have been avoided.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because I am satisfied with the actions the Council has taken to rectify the matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman