Summary: Mr X complained about the Council taking recovery action for council tax since 2017. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because concerns some matters which he was aware of outside the normal 12-month period for submitting complaints. There are no good reasons to disapply the time limit on considering this complaint. His current council tax account is subject to recovery by the Council and there is insufficient evidence of any fault in procedure which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council has issued summonses and harassed him about unpaid council tax since 2017. He says that he has had problems obtaining sufficient benefits and he complained to the Housing Ombudsman about the actions of his social housing landlord over his rent account. He says the Council should stop taking action for arrears which he disputes.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response. Mr X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr X says he has had several summonses and letters from enforcement agents about council tax arrears on his account since 2017. He has had problems with his social housing landlord, his rent account and also with the Council’s benefits department in previous years. He says he is unable to pay his council tax because of problems in claiming discretionary housing payment and other benefits.
7. He complained to the Council’s council tax department and it informed him that the balance on his account is correct and that he needs to make an arrangement to pay the due payments and arrears. Mr X has referred to findings against his social housing landlord by the Housing Ombudsman and says that the Council is partly responsible for his inability to claim benefits.
8. The council tax department is the billing authority and it advised him to seek a review of his council tax support assessment because it must recover the debt which is due on his account. It says his liability is correct and that only a change in his level of benefit could alter this. It has no involvement with the social housing landlord or the assessment of his benefits.
9. The Ombudsman may not question the merits of decisions which have been made in a proper manner. This means the Ombudsman will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions. In this case the Council is recovering the amount on Mr X’s account which he is liable for. It cannot change the liable amount and has tried to make arrangements for the amount to be cleared.
10. We cannot consider the complaints about matters in the years prior to 2020 because they are outside the 12-month limit for receiving complaints and it was reasonable for Mr X to complain at the time. There are no good reasons to disapply the 12-month rule because he was disputing his council tax charge as long ago as 2017.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because concerns some matters which he was aware of outside the normal 12-month period for submitting complaints. There are no good reasons to disapply the time limit on considering this complaint. His current council tax account is subject to recovery by the Council and there is insufficient evidence of any fault in procedure which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman