Rushcliffe Borough Council (26 005 126)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about council tax levels and the Council charging X, a precept amount, for the benefit of Parish Council’s. The law does not allow us to investigate matters that affect all the people in the Council’s area.
The complaint
- X complained about their council tax bill. They were unhappy with the level of precept their Parish Council had set, for the year 2026-2027, which directly impacted on the amount the Council charged X, as part of their bill. X was also unhappy the Council would not consider an alternative payment plan, while they disputed the amount it had set.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- X was unhappy with the level of council tax precept their Parish Council decided was due, as part of their contribution to their council tax bill. They were also unhappy the Council would not allow them to withhold parts of their bill, because they did not agree to this precept amount.
- We cannot investigate this complaint. The only matters we can consider are the Council’s actions and not the Parish Council’s decision on what the precept should be. This is because the Parish Council is not a body we can investigate
- The Council’s actions here, solely relate to how it includes the amount other bodies require, as a precept, in its annual council tax billing, together with the manner it expects payment of that bill.
- In this case, those actions affect all the people who live in the Council’s area and the law does not allow us to look at those types of complaint.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate X’s complaint because we cannot look at matters that affect all the people in the Council’s area.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman