Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Business Rates charged for a property which Mr X says is a residential property. This is because a decision to list a property as either business or residential is made by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), not the Council. The Council has issued a bill in accordance with the VOA’s decision and there is not enough evidence of fault in its actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council wrongly charged him business rates on a residential property. He says the Council then pursued the debt through the courts when it was not paid.
2. Mr X says he tried to raise the issue with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) but they advised the deadline had passed for contesting a wrongful charge.
3. Mr X says there is a now an Enforcement Order in place for a debt which he does not believe he owes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)

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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The decision to charge Business Rates was not made by the Council, it was made by the VOA.
9. If Mr X was unhappy with the VOA’s decision to add his property to the rating list it would have been reasonable for him to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal at the time. The VOA has confirmed he is now outside the usual time limits for appealing but we will not investigate as the injustice he claims stems from its decision rather than the Council’s actions.
10. There is no fault on the Council’s part in billing for Business Rates based on the VOA’s decision or in pursuing any debt which it believes is outstanding. Therefore, any injustice Mr X is claiming does not flow from fault by the Council.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate the actions of the VOA in listing his property in a particular way, and there is not enough evidence of Council fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman