Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account because there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. For the remainder, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his resulting complaint because we could not add to the investigation the Council has already carried out.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his council tax account, including his eligibility for a discount. Mr X also complained about the Council’s handling of his resulting complaint.
2. Mr X said this caused frustration and financial hardship.
3. Mr X wants the Council to apply a discount to his council tax account for the year and compensate him for the time and trouble he experienced in pursuing the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
7. 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by Mr X.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. The substantive issue in this complaint is the Council’s decision Mr X was no longer eligible for a council tax discount.
11. Disputes about a council tax premium or exemption can be appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. The Valuation Tribunal is an independent body which can determine any disputes about liability, discounts or exemptions from council tax.
12. We consider our powers on what we could achieve as part of our consideration of whether an alternative remedy exists and whether it is reasonable for a person to use it.
13. As we cannot determine council tax liability nor instruct the Council to provide Mr X with a discount, it is reasonable for him to seek a suitable remedy by appealing to the Valuation Tribunal. We will therefore not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint.
14. In its complaint response to Mr X, the Council explained how it calculated his council tax bill. The Council also acknowledged delay in responding to Mr X’s complaint and apologised.
15. We will not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint. Given the Council’s complaint findings, we could not add to the investigation the Council has already done.
16. Additionally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. Additionally, we could not add to the investigation the Council has already done.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman