Sheffield City Council (25 023 197)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about council tax reduction because there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council has not correctly applied a disability reduction to her council tax account. She said the Council agreed to retrospectively apply a council tax reduction but did not do so properly. She said the calculations for historic years are wrong.
- Mrs X said the Council has refused to amend her council tax bills despite accepting she is entitled to a reduction. She said this matter has caused her stress.
- Mrs X would like the Council to make several corrections to her account and issue new bills. She would like the Council to then pay her any overpayments due and to pay the goodwill payment it previously offered her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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).
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on Council tax reduction or discount.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X says the Council has not applied retrospective council tax reductions correctly. However, the Council said it has gone through her council tax account several times, including historic tax years, and applied the relevant reductions.
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It considers disputes and appeals about council tax reduction, exemptions and discounts.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has appeal rights to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman