Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to award her a grant for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council refused to award her a grant for her business, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. She also complains about the way a council employee spoke to her when she called to discuss the grant.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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”.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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Background

6. 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.
7. Businesses in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) as of 11 March 2020 were eligible for a payment of £10,000.
8. Mrs X is a small business owner. She was forced to close her business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but was not aware of the grant available in March 2020 until a client asked her about it in 2021. At that point she contacted the Council and asked it to pay her the grant retrospectively. She says the person she spoke to was unhelpful and made it feel like it was her fault that she did not receive the grant. She feels let down by the Council.

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My assessment

9. The small business grant fund closed to new applications on 28 August 2020 and the Council does not have discretion to award grants where an application was made after this date.
10. I have considered whether the Council was at fault for failing to make Mrs X aware of the scheme at the time but I have seen no evidence to show it was. The grant was widely publicised both on a local and national level and the Council wrote to Mrs X on 27 March 2020 inviting her to review the scheme criteria and apply for a grant if she felt she was eligible. Its letter is correctly addressed and while Mrs X may not have received it we could not say this was due to any fault by the Council; on balance we must conclude its non-delivery is the result of problems with the postal service.
11. Mrs X was clearly unhappy with the service she received from the Council when she called to discuss the grant but this did not affect the outcome of her request or cause her significant injustice for which we would recommend a remedy.

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Final decision

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

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman