Summary: We have upheld Mr X’s complaint about the handling of his council tax accounts. The Council have agreed to a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to apply a single person discount and said there was another resident living there when there wasn’t. His also complains the Council failed to consider his financial hardship and did not comply with his SAR request.

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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 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).
3. 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)).
4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So, where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mr X says the Council failed to apply a single person discount to his council tax account, and wrongly said there was more than one person living at the address. When the Council told Mr X of its decision, it did not tell him of his right to appeal the decision. We asked the Council to issue Mr X a decision letter about the single person discount which signposts him to his appeal rights. The Council has agreed and will do this within 4 weeks of this decision.
9. Mr X also says the Council failed to consider his financial hardship. When someone asks to pay less council tax, a council should advise them they can apply for a discretionary discount. Here, the Council did not advise Mr X he could apply for a discretionary discount. We asked the Council to tell Mr X that he can apply for discretionary discount and should Mr X apply, to signpost him to his appeal rights in any decision. The Council have agreed to do this within 4 weeks of this decision.
10. Mr X says the Council have failed to respond properly to his SAR request. The Information Commissioner’s Office is the organisation best placed to consider complaints about how organisations handle people’s data. If Mr X would like to complain about the Council’s handling of his request, it would be reasonable for him to raise this with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Final decision

11. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint about the handling of his council tax accounts. The Council have agreed to a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman