Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council taking court action for non- payment of business rates. We have no jurisdiction to investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council taking court action for unpaid business rates by his company since 2018. He disputes the liability and says the Council should have awarded a grant for his business during the Covid-19 pandemic period in 2020.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he received a summons in September 2023 for unpaid business rates from 2018. He disputed liability for the demand and said this was due to problems with a previous tenant of the premises. The Council told him he must make a payment arrangement before the court hearing in November. Mr X made a complaint to the Council and the hearing was suspended for four weeks to allow him to appoint a solicitor. The Council advised Mr X to attend the hearing because there is no right of appeal to a tribunal for business rates liability.
6. Mr X still disputes the liability and an order was granted which incurred court costs. We have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings.
7. Mr X says the Council should have awarded him a grant when he applied in 2020 during the pandemic period. The Council says he did not submit details of his lease which was required for anti-fraud compliance. It was reasonable for Mr X to complaint to us within 12 months if he believes he completed all the application requirements at the time. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council taking court action for non- payment of business rates. We have no jurisdiction to investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman