Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s administration of Mr X’s council tax accounts as there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him from any Council fault to warrant our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council sent letters about his council tax accounts to an address he had no connection with. Mr X says he had to travel 40 miles to collect the letters and spent over an hour on the telephone to the Council to get the matter resolved. Mr X would like the Council to make a monetary payment of £250 in recognition of the impact on him.

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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 any fault has not caused significant injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Council explained to Mr X what went wrong, apologised to him and rectified the matter. While I recognise Mr X was put to some time and trouble, I do not consider this was at a level that would justify our further involvement or would warrant us making a recommendation to the Council to provide a financial remedy. We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because I do not consider any remaining injustice caused to him is sufficient to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman