Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax reduction because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of Council Tax Reduction and will not accept his evidence to contradict this decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X says that the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of Council tax reduction. He says that the Council had previously accepted that no such overpayment had occurred or was recoverable.
7. Council tax reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a discount, not a benefit. It reduces the amount of council tax a person has to pay.
8. If a council gives someone too much CTR it can reduce the CTR and increase how much council tax the person owes. We call these changes ‘CTR reversals’. Sometimes a council creates reversals because it has miscalculated the CTR. It might have ignored information it had or used information it should have not used.
9. If the council’s CTR Scheme says how it deals with challenges to reversals (sometimes called ‘overpayments’) a claimant can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. If the scheme does not say how the council will deal with CTR reversals, the claimant cannot appeal.
10. Councils can decide to reduce someone’s council tax and should have a policy explaining when this happens. (S13A(1)(C) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended) If somebody is struggling financially because of a decision about wrongly paid council tax reduction, they can apply for a discretionary reduction. Appeals about those decisions are to the Valuation Tribunal.
11. Therefore, any dispute about whether or not a Council tax reduction should have been awarded (with a subsequent overpayment) can be appealed to a Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman