Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to apply for her council tax discount. It was reasonable for her to use her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to apply for her council tax discount when it moved her to temporary accommodation in another borough. She says the matter caused her financial hardship. She wants the Council to take accountability for the debt.

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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. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right but cannot investigate if the person has already used it. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Valuation Tribunal considers appeals about council tax discounts.
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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Miss X.
7. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The Council placed Miss X in temporary accommodation in another borough (Council B). Miss X says the Council told her it would submit her council tax discount application. However, when Council B issued her council tax bill, it had not applied a discount. Miss X asked Council B for a review but it did not agree to the discount. She later applied again for a discount, which Council B agreed to.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council failed to apply for her council tax discount for her. Council B is ultimately responsible for deciding whether to award a council tax discount. If Miss X disagreed with Council B’s decision, she could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. Therefore, there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved by investigating the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to use her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman