Bath and North East Somerset Council (25 027 934)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax enforcement because the complaint has been remedied.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council failed to act on his communications about Council tax liability and this caused him stress and convenience.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X, a landlord, says that he received Council tax bills for properties for which he was no longer liable, despite notifying the Council of the changes of circumstances.
- The Council has provided a detailed explanation of the charges and payments of each property. It accepts that there were errors in the administration of the accounts and delayed reviews. The Council has apologised for these faults.
- The Council says that the accounts have now been corrected and updated.
- I appreciate that the Council’s actions caused Mr X stress and inconvenience but, as no enforcement action was taken, I am satisfied that the Council’s apology is sufficient to remedy this complaint. There are no grounds therefore to investigate this complaint further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter has been remedied.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman