Derby City Council (20 012 061)

Category : Benefits and tax > COVID-19

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 24 Mar 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a grant for small businesses affected by COVID-19. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a £10,000 Government grant for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Good Administrative Practice during the response to COVID-19”.
  2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
  3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.

Back to top

What I found

  1. In March 2020, the Government created schemes for councils to pay grants to small businesses. This was because the COVID-19 restrictions affected so many of them.
  2. A business’ right to a grant depends on its rateable value on the business rating list and its eligibility for certain business rate reliefs on 11 March 2020.
  3. Following the first national lockdown in March 2020 Mr X applied to the Council for a £10,000 small business grant but the Council refused his application. This was because the premises was not on the rating list on 11 March 2020.
  4. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision. He says the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has now added the premises to the rating list and backdated the entry to 2018. He therefore believes the Council should award him the grant.

Assessment

  1. Small business grants are paid to successful applicants by local authorities which can then claim the money back from the Government. Guidance for the small business grant fund scheme clearly states:

“42. Any changes to the rating list (rateable value or to the hereditament) after the 11 March 2020 including changes which have been backdated to this date should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility.

43. Local Authorities are not required to adjust, pay or recover grants where the rating list is subsequently amended retrospectively to the 11 March 2020.”

  1. Exceptions to the above include:

“44. In cases where it was factually clear to the Local Authority on 11 March 2020 that the rating list was inaccurate on that date, Local Authorities may withhold the grant and/or award the grant based on their view of who would have been entitled to the grant had the list been accurate.

45. This is entirely at the discretion of the Local Authority and only intended to prevent manifest errors.”

  1. Mr X’s first contact with the Council about this matter was after 11 March 2020 and it was not therefore factually clear to it that the rating list was inaccurate on this date. The Council’s decision is therefore in line with the guidance and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it was reached. Although the VOA has now backdated Mr X liability for business rates this does not entitle him to a grant, as set out at point 42 of the guidance quoted above.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings