Birmingham City Council (23 012 066)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about communicating with the Council about Council tax payments because the matter has been remedied.
The complaint
- Mr X says that the Council failed to respond properly to his complaints about Council tax arrears.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that when he got into arrears with the Council they failed to respond properly to his complaints and queries.
- The Council accepts that the advice given was not acceptable and Mr X would have been put to some time and trouble in pursuing his complaints and queries. The Council has apologised and agreed to reduce his costs by £75.
- I consider that this is a suitable remedy to the complaint and there are no grounds therefore to pursue the complaint further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman