Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions relating to X’s benefits payments or council tax. The Council has started court proceedings to recover overdue council tax, and the law does not allow us to investigate. Nor can we investigate the decisions the Council took in relation to X’s housing benefit or council tax reduction. This is because X has already used their appeal rights to challenge these decisions. Finally, we will not investigate any fault in how the Council processed X’s benefit claims. The Council has already remedied X’s injustice.

The complaint

1. X was unhappy with how the Council handled their claims for housing benefit and council tax reduction. They said the Council delayed processing their claims and gave conflicting information about this matter. They said because the Council did not always have reliable information, the current recovery action it is taking, should be stopped. X also wants any arrears they owe, to be written off.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
3. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. X was unhappy with various aspects of how the Council handled their housing benefit and council tax reduction claims. They said the Council’s delays meant they unnecessarily built-up arrears.
7. We cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s recovery action for an underpayment of council tax. The Council has already started court proceedings on that matter and the law I referred to at paragraph two says we cannot investigate.
8. Nor can we investigate the Council’s decisions relating to X’s benefit claims. This is because where a person disagrees with the Council’s decisions on these matters, they can appeal those decisions to the First-Tier Tribunal. X has already used their appeal rights and so the law at paragraph three, means we cannot investigate.
9. Finally, I will not investigate a complaint about the Council’s delays, in deciding X’s benefit entitlement. The Council apologised for delays and gave X an explanation for what had happened here. They also agreed to write off part of the over payment. These actions are a suitable remedy for X’s injustice. In any case, we could not direct the Council to write off any arrears.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate X’s complaint because the law does not allow us to look at some of it, and of the other part we could look at, the Council has already adequately resolved the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman