Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability and complaint handling. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for this. Mr X can approach the Information Commissioner regarding his data handling complaints. It is not proportionate to investigate complaint handling in this case.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council incorrectly closed his council tax account in 2022 and then did not address his concerns about the accuracy of the data it used. The Council then pursued recovery of council tax and failed to communicate effectively. He says the Council should not have given his telephone number to enforcement agents. This caused him significant stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).
3. 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

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

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My assessment

5. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for this. Mr X was aware of the matters regarding liability in 2023, when the Council revised liability and sent him bills. But he did not raise a complaint to the Ombudsman until February 2026. It was reasonable to expect Mr X to raise a complaint within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter.
6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to his subject access request or about the Council’s enforcement agent using his telephone number when he had asked the Council not to disclose it. It is reaonble to expect Mr X to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office as it is the appropriate body to consider this.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint handling in 2025. 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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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s’s complaint because it is late. Mr X can complain to the Information Commissioner about data protection matters. We will not investigate complaint handling where we are not investigation the substantive matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman