Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council treated Mrs X’s son when it pursued a council tax debt and that the Council inappropriately passed on Mrs X’s address to enforcement agents. This is because of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint. In addition, there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the way the Council treated her son, Mr A, when it pursued a council tax debt. Mrs X says her son was vulnerable and needed support. She also complains the Council inappropriately passed on her address to enforcement agents.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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. The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint,

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant’s representative.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The evidence shows Mr A has accrued council tax arrears since 2019. The Council first referred the arrears to its enforcement agents in October 2019. This liability incurred £310 in enforcement fees. The Council referred a second liability to its enforcement agents in September 2020. Again, this incurred enforcement fees of £310. The Council confirmed no further enforcement fees were accrued after December 2020.
8. It is likely Mr A would have been aware he owed council tax in 2019 and 2020. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect him to have taken some action then to resolve the matter with the Council. However, there is no evidence Mr A contacted the Council to discuss his council tax arrears in 2019 or 2020. Further, there is no evidence Mr A made any complaints in 2019 or 2020 about the Council’s decision to refer the debt to an enforcement agent.
9. Therefore, I have not exercised discretion to consider the council tax debt accrued in 2019 and 2020, and the Council’s actions to recover that debt, as I do not consider there are any good reasons for why Mr A could not have complained earlier.
10. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation with regards to the Council’s actions towards Mr A in 2021. This is because the Council appropriately processed Mr A’s request for council tax support in April 2021 without delay and backdated the support to May 2020. Further, the Council confirmed Mr A has not accrued any enforcement fees since December 2020. This means the Council has not added any additional costs to Mr A’s council tax debt following his request for support in April 2021.
11. Finally, the Council explained to Mrs X it passed her address to the enforcement agents as Mr A told the Council in May 2021 he was living there. The Council said it could pass on forwarding address details to the enforcement agents to allow them to carry out enforcement action.
12. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. The ICO is better placed to consider Mrs X’s complaint that it was inappropriate for the Council to send the enforcement agents her address.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint. In addition, there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman