Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax matter. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council regarding its response to Ms X’s queries about the council tax. Ms X’s company could apply to the VOA about the property being uninhabitable.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council has failed to respond to her dispute about a property she says was uninhabitable. She says she could not get a response from the Council, and it continued to pursue recovery of the outstanding council tax while the dispute was outstanding.

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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 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))
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Valuation Office Agency. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
6. The Council replied it had advised Ms X in January 2025 that she should contact The Valuation Office Agency which could consider whether to remove the property from council tax listing on the basis it was uninhabitable. The Council did not uphold Ms X’s complaint that it had not responded to her contacts. It gave details of its responses. It noted that some emails she sent were spelt incorrectly. It explained it could pursue recovery while a dispute was outstanding. It had held recovery for a short period so that Ms X could make an arrangement.
7. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decides whether properties are uninhabitable and should be removed from the council tax banding list because of disrepair. The Council correctly advised Ms X to contact the VOA.
8. We cannot investigate complaints about matters that are not an administrative function of a council. The decision about whether Ms X’s property is uninhabitable is not an administrative function of the Council so we cannot investigate this part of Ms X’s complaint.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council failed to respond to her contact with it because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot investigate the VOA’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman