Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to register Mr T’s company for business rates. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr T says the Council has refused to register his business as liable for business rates at a specified location.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr T to comment on the draft decision and considered his responses to it.

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What I found

4. Mr T says he asked the Council to register his company as liable for business rates at a specified business location. He says he provided a Tenancy at Will (TAW) dating back to 2019. Mr T says his business qualifies for rate relief. He says the Council has been inconsistent in how it has considered his and other applications, and has asked him to provide extra information. Mr T says he has given the Council the details it wanted, but it still will not make his business liable.
5. The Council said it has concerns about Mr T’s application, as a different business was registered at the address on the date of Mr T’s TAW. The Council also said previous correspondence it had with Mr T gives it concern over the validity of the TAW. It says it has asked Mr T to provide evidence of rent payments made, but he has not done so. The Council said evidence provided to it does not establish the existence of Mr T’s business using the premises at the time in question, and it does not accept the validity of the TAW.
6. In evidence I considered, Mr T says rental payments are up to date, but he has not given the Council evidence of this. The Council has to be satisfied that liability for business rates is correctly established and is able to refuse liability where it is not satisfied. It is unlikely we would find fault in the way it has made its decision. That being the case, it is not for us to question the decision, or intervene to substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman