Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payment the Council seeks from Ms X. This is because we would reasonably expect her to have used her right of appeal to the Valuation Office.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council is claiming an incorrect CIL amount and that it lost the original CIL form she sent it in 2019 and only became aware of the outstanding payment when she contacted it in 2021. She says the Council knew she was too late when it advised her to appeal to the Valuation Office.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council’s responses to her complaint.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Community Infrastructure Levy is a charge which can be levied by local authorities on new development in their area to help them deliver the infrastructure needed to support development in their area.
8. Ms X is a property developer. In March 2019 she sent a CIL commencement notice to the Council which should have led to a CIL demand notice being issued to her. The Council says it did not receive the notice from Ms X and that she did not respond to an email it sent her in April 2019 asking for CIL data. Ms X did not follow up on the matter until two years later when she wrote to the Council asking it to confirm CIL was not payable.
9. The Council told her it was and issued its demand for payment. It told her if she disputed payment she could appeal to the Valuation Office, and that she could discuss with it about making a delayed appeal against the Liability notice the Council issued in May 2021.
10. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Ms X’s complaint. She had appeal rights to the Valuation Office which we would reasonably have expected her to have used. Whether the Office would accept a late appeal is a matter for that body.
11. Moreover, given that Ms X is a developer with experience of CIL, one would reasonably have expected her to have followed up on the notice she sent in March 2019 when she did not receive a reply and to have responded to the April 2019 email from the Council requesting CIL data.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we would reasonably expect her to have used her right of appeal to the Valuation Office.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman