Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s process for issuing Energy Rebate Grants as there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council:

• Delayed in sending his mother, Mrs Y, a letter about her eligibility for the Energy Rebate Grant; and
• Discriminated against Mrs Y as she is not computer literate and does not have a UK bank account.

2. Mr X says the delays meant Mrs Y did not have enough time to complete the grant application. As a result Mrs Y had insufficient funds for energy bills and this caused her mental stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y contacted the Council as she believed she was eligible to receive a discretionary grant under the energy rebate scheme. The Council wrote to Mrs Y to tell her of her eligibility and right to apply, which was 10 days from the issue of the letter.
7. The letter detailed that representatives could send applications for residents who could not complete the application themselves. It also included contact details to seek support with the application. The letter stated that payments could only be paid into a UK bank account held in the name of the person that was liable to pay the Council Tax and receive the rebate. The letter also detailed that if an application was not received by the council by the deadline, the rebate would be automatically credited to the Council Tax account.
8. Mrs Y does not have a UK bank account so there was a delay in issuing the rebate. However, once written authorisation was received, the rebate was issued to Mr X’s bank account on behalf of Mrs Y.
9. I will not investigate this complaint. At various stages the Council offered contact details to ensure Mrs Y had access to support with her application. The complaint response from the Council also detailed the various ways in which support was available to residents who were not computer literate and residents who experienced language barriers. In addition, Mrs Y was successful in receiving the rebate. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault or injustice to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman