Torbay Council (21 012 377)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s council tax complaint because the Council has accepted our recommendation to settle the complaint. The Council will apologise to Mr X, pay £100 for his time trouble and distress, revise down the council tax bill on his former home and deal with the practice issues.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council is requiring him to pay council tax on a property for some weeks after he moved out in the Autumn of 2019. Mr X says the Council is wrong to say he is liable. It has ignored his evidence and accepted the landlord’s claims that he continued living at the property. Mr X says the Council should cancel the council tax bill and pay compensation for his time and trouble and distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered Mr X’s information and comments and discussed the complaint with him by telephone. The Council has supplied case information. I have considered its comments and reply to my recommendation to settle this complaint.
My assessment
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint for the following reason:
- I am satisfied the Council will take appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X. The council tax dispute arose in 2021. By September Mr X had provided evidence to the Council which demonstrated that the original council tax decision (that he was not liable) was correct. A court decision explained the limit on Mr X’s liability. The Council’s environmental health officer had visited the property and could have confirmed Mr X had moved out as he had explained.
- A complaint about council tax liability is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because Mr X has a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal (see paragraphs 3 and 4 above). Given the circumstances, I would have exercised discretion to investigate the complaint had the Council not agreed to take appropriate action to correct the position.
Agreed action
- The Council has agreed to:
- Write to Mr X and apologise for the problems identified in the handling of his council tax account and the reply to his complaint.
- Revise/remove his council tax liability for the disputed period.
- Pay £100 for Mr X’s time, trouble, and distress.
- Consider advice and/or training to officers regarding consideration of evidence provided to the council tax team. In this case it included a court order and the need to obtain significant evidence held in another department (the Council has confirmed it has reviewed practice and will give advice).
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s council tax complaint because the Council has accepted our recommendation to settle the complaint. The Council will apologise to Mr X, pay £100 for his time trouble and distress, revise down the council tax bill on his former home, and deal with the practice issues.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman