Summary: The Council was at fault for the way it responded to Mr X’s concerns about a site licence. This caused Mr X injustice as he continues to experience problems with the site owner about his council tax payments and does not know what he can do to address this. The Council has agreed to meet with Mr X to discuss his outstanding concerns.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way the Council responded to his concerns about the licence arrangements at the site where he lives. As a result, he raised a formal complaint and is unclear about what the Council is responsible for or can assist with concerning the site.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of this complaint I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I discussed the complaint with Mr X over the telephone. I sent a draft of this decision to Mr X and the Council.

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What I found

5. Mr X lives on a site for holiday lodges. Mr X owns a holiday lodge at the site. Mr X purchased his holiday lodge over 10 years ago. The terms of the purchase included that he could use the lodge for 11 months occupancy each year and would then go on holiday for one month each year. Since Mr X has lived on the site he has paid council tax on his lodge property.
6. The Council’s caravan site licencing policy says all sites will be risk rated based on the relevant officer’s assessment, and taking into account any complaints received, and contraventions of licence conditions, and the quality of site management.
7. In December 2020 the site owner told Mr X he was in breach of his licence with the Council as Mr X was paying council tax on his lodge. On 12 February 2021 Mr X contacted the Council’s licencing team and asked whether the site licence was at risk if they continued to pay council tax on their lodge. The licencing team responded to say Mr X should contact the council tax department as payment of council tax is between Mr X and the Council.
8. On 13 February 2021 Mr X contacted the Council to ask what the risk rating for the site was. The licencing team responded on 17 February 2021 to say any observations about the site during an inspection will be sent to the licence holder and under legislation the Council is not required to risk rate sites.
9. On 20 February 2021 Mr X contacted the Council as the site owner had refused to provide him with bin bags and he was concerned the site owner would not provide him with a gas bottle he had already paid for. Mr X said this was because he was paying council tax for his lodge. The licencing team responded to Mr X on 22 February 2021 and told him it had passed his concerns onto the refuse team. In relation to his concerns about gas supply the licencing team told Mr X to seek assistance from a solicitor or advice centre.
10. At the end of February 2021, the Council’s refuse team provided Mr X with bin bags and a number to contact if he had further issues. Mr X contacted the Council in early March 2021 and asked how he could complain about the site owner’s behaviour towards him and other residents on the site. However, he did not receive a response to this.
11. On 11 March 2021 Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council. Mr X complained the licencing enforcement officer’s responses to his emails in February were evasive and unhelpful. He said the licencing team’s response to his query about inspections went against the Council’s own licencing policy as this said all sites were risk rated and was unhappy with the licencing officer’s response about the gas supply. Mr X said the Council had not told him how he can complain about the site owners harassment.
12. On 26 March 2021 the Council provided its stage one response. The Council said:
• Mr X has not provided evidence that the licencing enforcement officer acted inappropriately. The Council said this officer signposted him to council tax as they are best equipped to deal with this.
• The licence between the Council and the site owner says the site is for holiday use only. There is an expectation that anyone purchasing accommodation here will not be treating the site as their main and principle home. If someone is living there permanently the site owner would be at risk of enforcement action so should take action to remedy non-compliance.
• The licence conditions do not prevent someone on the site paying council tax on their site home, but it would depend on what their main residence is. The Council said if Mr X owns another home and rents this out his tenants would pay council tax on that home and his site home would be deemed his main residence so he would have to pay council tax on his home.
• The issue with the refuse bags has been resolved.
• The site inspections findings would be reported to the site owner. This is not public information and the report is related to the site as a whole as opposed to individual plots.
• Mr X should keep a log of incidents about bullying from the site owner.
• To change the licence conditions Mr X or the site owner would need to apply to vary the planning permission.
13. On 15 April 2021 Mr X contacted the Council as he was dissatisfied with the Council’s stage one response. Mr X send the Council a list of 14 questions as part of his response. In addition, Mr X said:
• The licencing enforcement officer did not respond to his question about whether the site licence was at risk if he paid council tax on his site property.
• The Council’s licencing policy said all sites would be risk rated. Mr X said he was unhappy with the response received from the licencing enforcement officer as it suggested the site did not have to be risk rated.
• He is stuck in a situation where the site owner has told him not to pay council tax and the Council said he should pay council tax.
• The site owner bullied and harassed residents on the site and Mr X asked for the chance to discuss this with the Council.
• He did not know whether he should be paying business rates too.
14. On 7 June 2021 the Council provided its final response. The Council said it was unable to solve all of the aspects of Mr X’s situation and told him to seek advice from a solicitor or advice centre. The Council said the caravan licencing policy on its website reflects the latest version and this is now on the Council’s website.
15. Mr X remained dissatisfied and contacted the Council. He was still not happy that the licencing officer referred him to the council tax department when his query was about site licencing.

Analysis

16. Mr X initially contacted the Council to enquire whether paying council tax on his site home would cause the owner to breach the site licence conditions. The Council did not answer Mr X’s concerns and instead referred him to the council tax department. This was fault. The Council could have answered Mr X’s query so he knew whether he was causing the site owner to breach the licence.
17. Mr X also raised further concerns to the Council about its licencing policy, harassment from the site owner and whether he should pay council tax. I recognise the Council has given Mr X some advice in relation to his council tax liability, in that he should pay this if the property is his main home. However, Mr X did raise further questions in his response to the Council’s stage one complaint response.
18. Mr X raised 14 questions to the Council which included queries about the risk rating of the site, harassment from the site owner, and liability to pay council tax on site properties. The Council has not provided Mr X with answers to his queries or explained whether it is in fact able to deal with these matters. This is fault.
19. As a result, Mr X continues to be harassed by the site owner about his council tax payments and does not know what he can do to address this.

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Agreed action

20. Within three months of my final decision the Council agreed to have a meeting with Mr X via telephone or face to face to discuss his outstanding concerns and questions he raised in his complaint. The Council could also take this opportunity to explain to Mr X what it can and cannot do in respect of the site so he is clear on this.
21. The Council should provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has carried this out.

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Final decision

22. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault for the way it responded to Mr X’s concerns about a site licence. This caused injustice to Mr X and the Council has agreed to the above action to remedy this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman