Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about business improvement district levy recovery action as it is unlikely we will find fault causing injustice to the complainant and part of the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not communicate with him for around two years regarding a business improvement district (BID) levy and then instructed enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover it. Mr X also complains when he went to court to challenge liability, no one from the Council attended. Mr X says he is struggling with his health.

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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. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide it is unlikely we will find fault or fault causing injustice significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complains he attended court in 2022 to challenge the Council’s decision on his liability for the BID levy but no one from the Council turned up. Mr X’s complaint to us about this is made late as he has not complained to us within a year of him knowing about this issue. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner, and within a year, and so I do not consider there are good reasons for us to investigate this late complaint now.
8. The Council obtained liability orders against Mr X from the court for unpaid BID levies in 2022/2023. While it may not have instructed bailiffs until 2025, the debt was still owing and so Mr X is not caused any significant injustice from the time taken for the Council to decide to use bailiffs to recover the debt.
9. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final Decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we will find fault or fault causing Mr X a significant injustice and part of the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman