Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to hold him liable for business rates as the issue was more appropriate for the courts. And other aspects of the complaint have been made late to us and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. In summary, Mr Y complains, on behalf of Mr X, about being held liable for business rates for spaces he rents out at his business unit.
2. Mr Y says many of the liability orders were not seen by Mr X and they have been left out of time to rescind existing liability orders. Mr X would like a refund of the £114,000 he has paid under a threat of his business being wound up.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr Y, read the Council’s complaints responses and also the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I note the Council’s responses to Mr X’s complaints. It records that responded to 305 emails from April 2023 – November 2023.
8. The Council stressed the way to appeal liability was via the Liability Order hearings. With respect to historic matters, it said Mr X was advised to contact the Valuation Office Agency in 2018. But the Council did not hear anything back about this instance.
9. The Council found one email about this matter was not responded to in June 2022. But it said it had not been provided any information to show that liability raised in that email was not appropriate.

Liability

10. The magistrates’ court decides liability for rates. A council can apply for a liability order and the person it thinks liable can defend themselves. In this case it seems the court found they were liable. I cannot question the decisions of a court and so cannot investigate this part of the complaint.
11. Also it seems some of these Liability Orders pertain to historic debts. These are outside of our usual 12 month time period for investigating. I see no good reason why Mr X could not have brought his complaint earlier than he has so this is another reason we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the courts are best placed to decide if Mr X is liable for the business rates the Council says he owes. And with respect to historic debts I see no good reasons for Mr Y not bringing the complaint to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman