Newark & Sherwood District Council (26 010 939)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about allocation of council tax payments. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the Council allocated a payment she made in April 2026 to 2025/26 when that year was paid in full or in credit. She says the Council failed to maintain accurate records and provided inconsistent and unclear information about her account and payments.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
- The Council replied that it had allocated payments correctly. It provided a statement which showed Ms X was in arrears on 31 March 2026. The Council allocated the payment she made in April 2026 to the arrears for 2025/26. The Council also allocated part of the payment Ms X made in May 2026. This led to her being behind on her 2026/27 payments.
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation. This is because it is not fault for a Council to allocate payments to the oldest outstanding debt. The Council has shown in its statement that there were arrears and how it allocated payments.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman