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15 February 2016

Complaint reference:

15 016 673

Complaint against:

North East Lincolnshire Council

The Ombudsman’s draft decision

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s summons and liabilityorder charges for recovery of unpaid council tax in 2012. TheOmbudsman cannot investigate this complaint. Mr X appealed to theHigh Court against the Council and the Magistrates Court for grantingthe liability order in 2012. He has not received a successful outcomebut any matter on which court proceedings have commenced is

outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. In addition Mr X was aware ofthe matter more than 12 months before he submitted his currentcomplaint. The Ombudsman will not exercise her discretion toinvestigate this matter now because he made a similar complaint in2013.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the summons charge

which he received in 2012. He says he paid £10 which he considered areasonable reflection of the costs and the Council then obtained a liability orderfrom the Magistrates Court for the remaining £60 costs. He says the MagistratesCourt is also at fault for issuing the liability order.

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started courtaction about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c))

3. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless she decides there aregood reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months tocomplain to the Ombudsman about something a council has done. (LocalGovernment Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D)

How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint.

What I found

5. Mr X received a summons of £70 for unpaid council tax in October 2012. Heconsiders the cost to be excessive and paid the Council £10 which he says is

appropriate for the cost of recovery. The Council took the matter to theMagistrates Court in November 2012 and obtained a liability order for theremaining £60. Mr X says the Court should not have granted the order because

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Draft decision for your comments 2

he considered the liability was settled and he wrote to inform the court of this. Heattended a court hearing on 2 November but the court granted the order.

6. Mr X challenged the Court decision and the Clerk informed him that he may onlydo so in the High Court. Mr X says he applied to the High Court to challenge theCouncil and the Magistrates Courts decisions on 22 November 2012. He saysthat despite this and a second judicial review action he has not obtained a

satisfactory result from the High Court.

7. Mr X asked the Council to quash the liability order in February 2013. The Councilrefused to do so because it said the order was valid. Mr X disputes this. In May2013 he complained to the Ombudsman about the arrears on his accountbecause they were carried forward to the following financial year. The complaintwas considered premature and we advised Mr X to pursue a formal complaintwith the Council. He did not state in his complaint that he had already taken thematter to the High Court.

8. Mr X did not submit a formal complaint to the Council until March 2014. Hedisputed the procedure and the outcome of the initial stages. The Council sent afinal decision in September 2014. Mr X did not submit another complaint aboutthis until 2016.

9. It is clear that Mr X disputes the charges which the Council makes for serving asummons for council tax arrears. He challenged the decision of the Council andMagistrates in 2012 and made two applications to the High Court. TheOmbudsman may not consider matters which are subject to the commencementof court proceedings, regardless of the outcome. Mr X made a complaint in 2013but he did not resubmit it until 2016. The Ombudsman would not exercisediscretion on the grounds of time where the complaint subject is outside her jurisdiction on the grounds of court involvement.

Draft decision

Mr X appealed to the High Court against the Council and theMagistrates Court for granting the liability order in 2012. He has notreceived a successful outcome but any matter on which courtproceedings have commenced is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The Ombudsman will not exercise her discretion toinvestigate this matter now because he made a similar complaint in2013.

Investigator’s draft decision on behalf of the Ombudsman