Mendip District Council (22 003 595)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council wrongly pursuing Mr X for council tax he did not owe. This is because the Council has proposed a suitable remedy and any remaining injustice to Mr X is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council wrongly pursued him for a council tax debt. Mr X had to spend several hours contacting the Council to try to resolve this, including making six telephone calls. Mr X also wrongly received two letters from the Council’s enforcement agents. This has caused Mr X distress and worry, which affected his sleep and relationships.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), 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
- The Council has explained to Mr X that this problem arose due to human error and that it has taken steps to avoid this happening again in future. It acknowledged Mr X has been caused distress by its fault and it has apologised to him for this. It has also offered Mr X a payment of £200 in recognition of the impact this matter has had on him.
- While I recognise Mr X remains upset at what took place, I consider that the Council has provided a reasonable remedy to this complaint and one that is broadly in line with our remedies’ guidance. As such, I do not consider there is sufficient remaining injustice caused to Mr X to warrant our further involvement or that this would be in the public interest. We will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has provided a suitable remedy to the complaint and our further involvement is therefore not warranted.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman