Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to apply for an Attachment of Earnings order to recover a council tax debt, and about how the complainant was spoken to about the matter. This is because there is no evidence of fault, and we cannot add to the previous investigation carried out by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about the Council’s decision to apply for an Attachments Of Earning (AOE) order to recover a council tax debt and about how she was spoken to about the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organization.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to apply for an AOE. This is because there is no evidence of fault in how it dealt with the matter. An arrangement plan for the debt was previously in place, but Miss X stopped making payments. The Council wrote to Miss X explaining what action it may take and subsequently applied for an AOE order, something it is entitled to do in order to recover unpaid council tax
6. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how she was spoken to and what she was told during telephone conversations with the Council. Miss X and the staff she spoke to have different recollections about what was said during the calls. The calls were not recorded, and in the absence of any independent corroborating evidence we cannot say exactly what was said. Therefore, we cannot add to the Council’s previous investigation.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and we cannot add to the Council’s previous investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman