East Sussex County Council (23 009 816)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council providing Mr X with incorrect information about child benefits. This is because Mr X has used his right to appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council gave him incorrect information about the child benefit process. Mr X says this led to him receiving an overpayment. Mr X would like the Council to reimburse him for the amount he is required to repay.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as HMRC. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X received child benefit for his children. In 2019 Mr X’s mother, Ms Y, became the guardian of Mr X’s children. Mr X said he was informed by his social worker to forward his child benefit payment to Ms Y.
- The Family Court issued a Special Guardianship Order in 2020 and Ms Y became the children’s formal guardian. Mr X updated HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) who informed him he should have updated them when the children first moved out of his care. HMRC stated Mr X was liable to repay the child benefit payments made to him in the period the children were in Ms Y’s care prior to the Special Guardianship Order being made.
- Mr X disagreed he was liable to repay the child benefit money as he followed the advice he received from the Council. However, we cannot investigate HMRC’s decision to pursue Mr X for repayment. Mr X also appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal in 2023 about his entitlement to receive child benefit payments and, therefore, I am unable to investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate a complaint if the complainant has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman