Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (23 007 945)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s decisions on his housing benefit and council tax reduction applications in 2018. Mr X used his rights of appeal to the county court and the Valuation Tribunal Service.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council’s decisions in relation to council tax reduction and housing benefit in 2018. He wants the Council to amend its decisions and pay him the amounts he had claimed for.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X appealed the Council’s decisions about his council tax reduction and housing benefit applications in 2018. Where a person has the right to appeal to a tribunal or court, we will usually not investigate.
- Mr X exercised his rights in this case. His housing benefit appeal was heard by the county court, and his council tax reduction appeal was heard by the Valuation Tribunal. Mr X’s appeals were refused, but this does not mean we can now consider the matter.
- In any event, the law says complaints must be brought to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the issue. There is not a good reason for the significant delay in this case.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he used his rights to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service and the county court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman