IRRV Alert - week ending 8th October 2021
News
Circulars
Reports
New benefits and taxation decisions
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A weekly update on benefits and taxation decisions |
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Please note: our decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint. The cases below reflect the caselaw and guidance available at the time of issue and the individual circumstances of each case. Pendle Borough Council (21 004 790)
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to apply a premium to her council tax. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is a right of appeal to Valuation Tribunal. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (21 004 909)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint concerning the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation and it is too late to investigate now matters relating to council tax from earlier years. Tendring District Council (21 005 091)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing Mr X a council tax exemption. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is a right to appeal to a tribunal, which it would be reasonable to expect Mr X to use. London Borough of Havering (20 010 434)
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her with relevant information, despite her request, about her late mother’s Council Tax. Mrs X also complained the Council provided misleading Council Tax exemption notices. Mrs X says the lack of, and misleading, information provided by the Council meant she missed out on Council Tax exemption by her registering the property in her name too soon. The Ombudsman does not find fault with the information the Council made available to Mrs X, and the general public, about Council Tax. The Ombudsman found fault by the Council in managing Mrs X’s, and her mother’s, Council Tax accounts and through timescales of responses to Mrs X’s complaint. However, this fault did not cause a significant injustice to Mrs X. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (20 012 596)
Summary: There was no fault in the Council’s decision the complainant was not eligible to receive a COVID-19 business support grant. This is because the Council was not aware of the business on the qualifying date. We have therefore completed our investigation. London Borough of Southwark (20 007 792)
Summary: Ms D complained the Council did not award her business a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant to help with the impact of COVID-19. We find fault as the Council did not properly consider statements made by Ms D in support of her request nor consider using its discretion to pay her a grant. This caused Ms D uncertainty. The Council accepts these findings and has agreed action to reconsider Ms D’s request for a grant, set out in detail at the end of this statement. Shropshire Council (20 013 324)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council calculated the complainant’s council tax relief or its decision to ask her to repay council tax she underpaid because of an error. This is because the complainant has already appealed to a tribunal. London Borough of Haringey (20 013 328)
Summary: Mr X complains the Council wrongly refused him a business grant, placing his business under financial risk. We find no fault in the Council’s decision making. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (20 006 580)
Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s refusal to pay his company a grant and its decision to bill the company for business rates. We found no fault in how the Council reached its grant and billing decisions. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (21 003 997)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with an application for Discretionary Housing Payments and the way it recovered arrears. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement, and we cannot investigate the Council when it is acting as a landlord. Birmingham City Council (21 004 889)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about council tax liability because the complainant appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (21 006 406)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to give the complainant a council tax reduction. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
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