Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about council tax arrears following an excess payment of council tax reduction. This is because the complainant appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, says the Valuation Tribunal upheld her appeal but the Council will not refund the £450 she paid before the hearing. She says the Council told her the £450 would be refunded once the council tax reduction (CTR) decision had been quashed. Ms X wants the Council to refund £450.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided Ms X and the Council. This includes Ms X’s appeal, the tribunal bundle and the tribunal decision. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Due to an error, which was not Ms X’s fault, the Council paid too much CTR. As a consequence, it added the excess CTR of £1082 to Ms X’s council tax bill.
7. Ms X appealed against the excess council tax. The Council explained the CTR policy does not permit errors to be written off, but it said she could apply for discretionary council tax relief which, if awarded, could reduce the arrears.
8. Ms X offered to pay £450 as a gesture of goodwill and said she wanted to apply for discretionary relief. She wrote she would then work out how to pay the remaining arears, after discretionary relief had been awarded.
9. The Council decided not to award discretionary relief because Ms X declined to complete an application form. The Council said she could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal about this decision.
10. Ms X appealed to the tribunal. In her appeal form she referred to agreeing to pay £450 as a gesture of goodwill. In the discussion during the appeal Ms X told the tribunal that she was expecting the Council to refund the £450.
11. The tribunal upheld the appeal. It directed the Council to award discretionary relief and reduce the arrears of £863, outstanding at the date of the appeal, to nil. The Council complied with this direction.
12. Ms X complained to the Council and said it should refund the £450. The Council said it had implemented the tribunal decision and she would need to ask for a refund from the tribunal. The Council does not know if Ms X has lodged a new appeal.
13. I cannot start an investigation because Ms X appealed to the tribunal. The law says we cannot investigate any matter that has been the subject of an appeal to the tribunal. Ms X told the tribunal about the £450 payment and said she was expecting it to be refunded. This means the £450 was considered as part of the tribunal proceedings and we have no power to investigate.
14. Ms X could lodge a new appeal to the tribunal regarding the £450. I do not know if the tribunal would accept an appeal or if a second appeal would be successful.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate this complaint because Ms X appealed to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman