Summary: We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint the Council has applied a council tax premium to an empty property. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs Y to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs Y, complained the Council has applied a council tax premium to an empty property she owns and is renovating. The Council has refused Mrs Y’s request it use its discretionary powers to reduce the Council tax owed. Mrs Y is unhappy with how the Council sent its initial demand and wants the Council to change its policy. Mrs Y is also unhappy with the Council’s handling of her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate
3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
5. 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 do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

6. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mrs Y.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. We will not start an investigation into Mrs Y’s complaint.
10. The issue at the heart of this complaint is the council tax premium being charged on Mrs Y’s empty property. Mrs Y can challenge the Council’s decision on her property’s council tax liability by appealing to the Valuation Tribunal. This is the appropriate route to challenge such a decision and we generally expect it to be used. The Tribunal can also consider the Council’s decision not to offer Mrs Y a reduction in the Council tax owed.
11. A person should appeal to the Tribunal within two months of receiving the authority's response to their complaint, or within four months of making the complaint if the authority does not respond. If a person misses this time limit due to circumstances outside their control, they may put in a late appeal to the Tribunal.
12. Mrs Y is also unhappy the Council sent its initial demand at short notice and during the holidays. Mrs Y also wants the Council’s council tax policy changed and is unhappy with its handling of her complaint. We will not look at these points because:
• There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council sent the original demand to warrant us investigating.
• It is not the Ombudsman’s role to say what council tax policies the Council should operate.
• We will not normally investigate complaint handling in isolation if we are not going to look at the issue which led to the original complaint. There is no good reason to deviate from that position in this case.
13. It is reasonable for Mrs Y to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal so we will not investigate her complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman