Summary: The Council was at fault for how it handled Ms X’s application for council tax support. This caused Ms X injustice as she cannot be sure whether her council tax support entitlement should be backdated. The Council has agreed to the actions at the end of this statement to remedy the injustice to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about how the Council handled her application for council tax support. Ms X says the Council did not help her when she was struggling to apply for council tax support and has not issued her with a decision after starting to pay her council tax support. She said this has caused her to potentially pay full council tax for a longer period. She says she does not know how or when the decision to award her council tax support was made.

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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 investigation I considered the information provided by Ms X and the information provided by the Council. I discussed the complaint over the telephone with Ms X. I sent a draft of the decision to Ms X and the Council and considered the comments received in response.

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What I found

Council tax support

5. Council tax support are local schemes to help those on a low income with payment towards all or part of their council tax. Each council has its own rules for what it will pay working age claimants.
6. Decisions on eligibility for council tax support must be sent in writing to an applicant. Where a decision is to award council tax support the decision must tell an applicant:
• how their entitlement to council tax support will be discharged;
• of their duty to tell the Council of a change of circumstances;
• of the consequences about not telling the Council of a change in circumstances; and
• of the circumstances where a change might affect an applicants entitlement to council tax support or the amount received.
7. Regardless of the outcome of a decision on the eligibility for council tax support the decision must tell applicants about their right to have the decision reviewed should they disagree with the decision and their right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. (Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012, Schedule 8, Part 3, Section 12(4))
8. Within one month of receiving a decision on eligibility for council tax support, an applicant can ask the Council to provide a written statement setting out the reasons for its decision. (Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012, Schedule 8, Part 3, Section 12(5))

The Council’s policies

9. The Council’s council tax support scheme (the Scheme) says there is a maximum limit of backdating council tax support claims up to one month.
10. The Scheme also defines backdated council tax support awards in the glossary section. It says in some cases the Council has been able to pay people a period of up to six months before they made a claim. However a person will have needed to have a good reason for not making a claim sooner than they did.
11. The Council notifies applicants about any council tax support granted, removed or revised by an adjustment to the council tax bill. The Scheme says the bill itself will be the formal notification.

What happened

12. There has been extensive correspondence between Ms X and the Council since April 2020. In this section of the statement we have summarised key events, but have not referred to every single contact and communication.
13. On 29 April 2020 Ms X sent a query form to the Council. Ms X said; “I am currently struggling to pay the council tax due to coronavirus and my income but I believe I am entitled to council tax support. What is the Council doing to assist in the current circumstances (as until my ongoing complaint regarding benefits is resolved I do not wish to utilise the support system in place).”
14. Ms X did not receive a response so contacted the Council’s revenues team in May 2020. Ms X asked the Council what help it would provide her with paying council tax. On 29 May 2020 the Council replied to Ms X and told her she could be eligible for financial support. It gave her a list of support available and told her to contact her local benefits office.
15. On 1 June 2020 Ms X contacted the Council’s revenues team and asked whether applying for council tax support would affect her existing benefits. On 9 June 2020 Ms X contacted the Council again and said she could not complete the forms for council tax support as the system would not recognise her reference numbers. Ms X said she was reluctant to apply for council tax support given the issues with her housing benefit claim which the Council were dealing with under a separate complaint. The Council’s revenues team responded to Ms X on 10 June 2020 and told her to contact the council tax support team if she had issues with her application. The Council provided Ms X with the telephone number to do this.
16. On 5 September 2020 Ms X contacted the Council and said she was entitled to council tax support. She attached screenshots of messages which showed she could not access the forms she previously started. She contacted the Council again in October 2020 and said she had not received any council tax support.
17. The Council’s revenues team responded to Ms X and told her she needed to contact the council tax support department and provided the telephone number.
18. In January 2021 Ms X raised a formal complaint to the Council as she disputed how much council tax she owed as stated in her last notice. She also complained the Council had ignored her previous requests for help with council tax payments and not accepted her claims for council tax support.
19. The Council responded on 29 January 2021. The Council said Ms X had not made a council tax support claim since her previous claim ended in February 2010. It had not received any council tax support claims from her in April and May 2020. The Council accepted she emailed it in September 2020 and it should have invited her to make an application for council tax support. The Council apologised for not doing this and invited Ms X to apply for council tax support. The Council said once it received Ms X’s council tax support application it would consider whether to backdate this to September 2020.
20. On 8 February 2021 Ms X responded to the Council. Ms X said the Council had not explained why her previous claims for council tax support were not recognised. She provided reference numbers for these claims. She also said she first contacted the Council on 29 April 2020 about her application not 5 September 2020.
21. The Council responded on 5 March 2021. In relation to the reference numbers Ms X provided, the Council said it appeared she started filling out council tax support forms but did not complete them. The Council said when Ms X contacted it on 29 April 2020 her email suggested she did not want to claim council tax support at the time. The Council also told Ms X to make a claim for council tax support.
22. Ms X responded to the Council on 11 March 2021. Ms X said she had tried to complete a council tax support claim form in June 2020 and access a form she believed was already saved on the system but could not do so.
23. On 9 April 2021 the Council provided its final response. The Council said when Ms X contacted it on the 29 April 2020, she said she did not want to use support so did not wish to claim council tax support. In June 2020 when Ms X contacted the Council it said her emails showed she was having difficulty accessing the council tax reduction form but that she did not wish to submit the form.
24. The Council said it only kept council tax support claim forms on its system for 30 days. The Council believed Ms X may have started completing a form but came back to it after 30 days. The Council accepted it did not publish that forms are only saved for this timeframe. However it said this did not affect the result of the claim as Ms X’s emails showed she was not going to submit a claim form.
25. The Council confirmed Ms X would still need to submit a claim form so the Council could see whether she should receive council tax support. The Council said normally it would not consider a backdate of council tax support from September 2020 as over one month had passed since the Council told Ms X to apply for council tax support. However the Council said if Ms X submitted an application for council tax support within one month it would consider whether she was entitled to receive council tax support from September 2020.
26. Ms X submitted a claim form for council tax support on 22 April 2021.
27. In response to our enquiries the Council confirmed it had decided to pay Ms X council tax support from the 22 April 2021. The Council said it told Ms X of her eligibility for council tax support by sending her an updated copy of her council tax bill which showed her council tax support entitlement. The Council also explained it provides notes on the back of its council tax bills which advise applicants of their appeal rights.
28. In response to the draft decision the Council provided a copy of the notes contained on the back of its council tax bills. These notes mention an applicant’s right to request a review of the decision on their council tax support, appeal rights and duty to tell the Council should an applicant’s circumstances change.

Analysis

29. Ms X first contacted the Council in April 2020 about council tax support. However in this email she said she did not wish to use any support available. In May and June 2020 Ms X made further contact with the Council’s revenues team. She said she was having difficulty completing an application form. The revenues team directed Ms X to contact the Council’s benefits team so she could receive help with council tax support. There is however no record of Ms X doing this. We have not found the Council at fault for the way it dealt with Ms X at this time.
30. Ms X again contacted the Council’s revenues team in September 2020 where she provided evidence she could not access previous applications and her references were not recognised. Again the Council told Ms X to contact its benefits team for help with council tax support, however in its complaint response the Council acknowledged it should have helped Ms X at this time. Given Ms X provided evidence of claim forms she had tried to complete and could not do so it would have been appropriate for the revenues team to pass this matter onto the benefits service dealing with council tax support applications. It was clear from this point Ms X could not access forms she had tried to complete previously and was having difficulty applying. This is fault.
31. If the revenues team had passed her details onto the benefits team they may have been able to help Ms X to apply for council tax support sooner. It is the Council’s view that Ms X did not intend to apply for council tax support. We accept Ms X in correspondence with the Council expressed her reluctance to apply, however it was clear from September 2020 she was trying to access forms she had previously completed and could not do so, therefore she should have been given assistance.
32. The Council also told Ms X its council tax forms are only saved for 30 days, however it does not publicise this on its website. This is fault. It was possible Ms X started to complete a form and came back to it later to find it had been deleted. If the Council publicised that forms which were not submitted within 30 days would be deleted, Ms X may have been aware this was why she could not find her council tax support forms.
33. Following the complaints procedure the Council told Ms X on 9 April 2021, if she applied for council tax support within one month it would consider whether it could backdate any award to 7 September 2020.
34. The Council has not considered whether Ms X is entitled to backdated council tax support from September 2020. The Council’s justification for this is it can only consider backdated claims one month from the date a claim form is submitted. However the Council, in its final response, told Ms X if she submitted a claim within one month of 9 April 2021, the Council would consider whether to backdate any council tax support to 7 September 2020, even though this would be more than one month since any claim form was received.
35. While the Council’s council tax support scheme says it can only backdate an award up to one month, it also says backdated awards can be up to six months if an applicant can show good reasons. As there is conflicting information in the scheme the Council should consider backdating Ms X’s claim as it originally agreed to.
36. The Council’s actions meant Ms X believed it would consider backdating her council tax support award when she submitted her claim form. Ms X also spent considerable time and trouble pursuing her council tax support application. Had the Council assisted her in September 2020 when she reported difficulties in completing the application form, it may well have avoided Ms X bringing a complaint to us.

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Agreed action

37. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following and provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has done so:
• Apologise to Ms X for not considering backdating her council tax support despite telling her the Council would do so and for not providing further assistance to her in September 2020.
• Pay Ms X £150 in recognition of the time and trouble she spent in pursuing this matter with the Council.
• Consider whether it is appropriate to backdate Ms X’s entitlement to council tax support to 7 September 2020 and issue her with a decision in writing.
38. Within three months the Council agreed to:
• Publicise on its website that council tax support application forms are only saved for 30 days and deleted if not submitted within this timeframe.
• Review its council tax support scheme to ensure the period for backdated claims is clear.

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Final decision

39. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault for how it handled Ms X’s council tax support application. This caused Ms X injustice. The Council has agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman