Birmingham City Council (22 012 981)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 29-Mar-2023

Summary: Ms B complained the Council had, on review, upheld a decision not to make two payments to her under the NHS Test and Trace Support Scheme in January 2022. We found the Council at fault for this decision. It took irrelevant considerations into account, failed to make sufficient enquiries and gave too much weight to advice from a Government Department. This caused injustice to Ms B as the review decision may not have been the same but for the fault. The Council accepts these findings and has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice, set out at the end of this statement.

London Borough of Bromley (22 016 664)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 29-Mar-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrongly refused her application for a COVID-19 business grant in 2020. This is because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

Pendle Borough Council (22 016 620)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 23-Mar-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his applications for COVID-19 local restrictions support grants. This is because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (22 015 798)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 21-Mar-2023

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a COVID-19-related business grant. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s refusal to pay the grant. The law prevents us considering the court action.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (22 012 639)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 10-Mar-2023

Summary: Miss X complained the Council refused business grants and delayed dealing with her complaint, causing financial loss and distress. We did not investigate matters arising more than 12 months before Miss X contacted us. We found no fault in the Council’s decision making but we found fault in its communications. We recommended it provide Miss X with an apology, pay £100 for distress and uncertainty and pay £100 for time and trouble.

London Borough of Harrow (22 015 082)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 27-Feb-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to increase the amount of his COVID-19 business grant following retrospective changes to the rating list in 2020. This is because government guidance stated local authorities should ignore such changes for the purposes of determining eligibility for grants and the Council’s decision followed this guidance. The complaint is late and there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Westminster City Council (22 014 894)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 21-Feb-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s COVID-19 business grant application process. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Cannock Chase District Council (22 005 174)

Statement Upheld Covid-19 30-Jan-2023

Summary: There was no fault in how the Council considered the complainant’s application for a COVID-19 business support grant, nor any evidence a Council officer harassed him during a phone call. The Council was at fault because it did not properly consider the complainant’s request for a transcript of the call, but this did not cause him an injustice. We have therefore completed our investigation.

London Borough of Hillingdon (22 013 498)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 30-Jan-2023

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to award his business COVID-19 business rates relief. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Cheshire East Council (22 011 554)

Statement Not upheld Covid-19 27-Jan-2023

Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not resolve problems with its online application for business grants resulting in Ms Y missing out on a grant. We found no evidence of fault by the Council.