Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about council tax and the Council’s enforcement action. This is because at our invitation the Council agreed to remedy the potential injustice. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation into other matters, and we cannot investigate court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council unfairly pursued council tax recovery for a property that was occupied by another person. He said a long term empty premium was wrong. He says the Council did not respond to his queries about it passing the account to its agent, data protection matters, and the agent’s authority to take enforcement action. He said the Council should consider a vulnerable occupier and his offers to pay. He asked for a copy of the liability order.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
5. 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)
6. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

8. Mr X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
9. The Council explained it could share data with its agents, and it was necessary for the agent to recover unpaid council tax. The Council asked why he disputed the council tax due and asked for information and evidence about the vulnerable occupants and other occupation of the property. The Council said the liability order was not a physical document.
10. The Council noted Mr X said the vulnerable person lived in the building, but not at his address. It said the liability order was in Mr X’s name only so the presence of a vulnerable person in another dwelling would not influence the recovery action. The Council noted Mr X gave further information about the periods he lived in the property. It asked for evidence to support this. The Council said no payments had been made since 2021. It said it had correctly progressed the account through the statutory collection process. It did not accept Mr X’s offer to pay £200 per month and asked him to complete an income and expenditure form.
11. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X injustice because the Council explained why it considered he was liable and a long term empty premium applied, but it did not advise him of his right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
12. Once the Council provides appeal information, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if he disputes the liability or the premium.
13. We will not investigate Mr X’s other complaints because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigation. The Council has explained why it is taking recovery action and why it did not agree to recall the account on the basis of vulnerability. The Council has taken enforcement action in accordance with legislation and guidance.
14. We cannot investigate the liability order as this relates to court proceedings and as set out in paragraph 4, we are unable to investigate this by law.

Back to top

Agreed Action

15. At our invitation the Council agreed to remedy the potential injustice here by writing to Mr X within one month of this decision to confirm the reasons for the liability decision and long term empty premium. It will provide details of his right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

Back to top

Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council agreed to take appropriate action to remedy the potential injustice. Mr X can appeal liability to the Valuation Tribunal. There is insufficient evidence of fault in other matters to justify our involvement. We cannot investigate court proceedings.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman