Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to provide information about business grants causing him to miss out. We found no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not make market traders, including him, aware of relevant grant schemes and incorrectly told him he was not eligible for a grant meaning he did not apply in time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke to Mr X and I reviewed documents provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I gave Mr X and the Council an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Discretionary Grants

6. The Government gave councils funding at various times to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Councils had discretion on administering these schemes and which businesses they would support.
7. Of relevance to this case the Council introduced an Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) at the end of 2020. In early 2021 it expanded this scheme to support more businesses under the Expanded Additional Restrictions Grant (EARG). Both schemes closed to new applications on 31 March 2021.
8. In April 2021 the Council decided to provide a top-up payment to those businesses it had already supported under the ARG and EARG. The Council issued these ARG (Restart Payments) from May 2021.

Business Growth Hub

9. The Business Growth Hub supports businesses across Manchester. Its funding comes from various bodies (not including the Council). It is separate to the Council and not subject of this investigation.

What happened

10. In May 2021 Mr X asked the Council’s market team about grants that he may have missed out on. He was unhappy no-one had contacted him when grants became available.
11. The Council said its market team had no responsibility over grant funding. It had emailed all traders in April 2020 as a courtesy to signpost them to the Council’s website for information. Details about grants were on the Government and Council websites.
12. Mr X then formally complained the market team did not contact traders about grants.
13. The Council’s stage one response repeated the information already provided; that information was on its website as referred by the market team in April 2020.
14. Mr X remained unhappy. He said he had struggled to apply for another grant recently and he believed the Council was discouraging people from applying. He had missed out on the ARG that closed in March 2021. This was because the Council told him to contact the Business Growth Hub who then knew nothing about the grant.
15. Mr X then found he did not qualify for the ARG Restart grant because he had missed the ARG and EARG. He added to his complaint that despite emailing the Council for help and checking its website he had been unable to find any information about the grants and had now missed out.
16. The Council explained it worked closely with the Growth Hub though this was a separate organisation and not part of the Council. The Council said it advertised grants to as many businesses as possible through its networks, the Business Bulletin, social media and by advertising them and making them easily accessible on its website. The Council said it would not be usual for the market team to give information on grants administered by another team. However, the market team did tell traders about the upcoming Government support by email in March and April 2020.
17. When I spoke to Mr X he said the Council told him by phone and email that no grants were available to him. He says he looked on the Council’s website but found no information about grants and the Council referred him to the Business Growth Hub who also told him that no grants were available. I asked Mr X for any records of his communications with the Council where it told him no grants were available. The information he provided did not evidence this.
18. In response to enquiries the Council said it promoted the grant schemes through:
• Posts on corporate social media accounts
• E-bulletin to premises licensing database
• Messages shared with Environmental Standards team to share 
• Inclusion in weekly business e-bulletin
• Web pages on manchester.gov.uk including
• Messages shared with business partners
• Press release
19. The Council provided copies of pages from its website outlining the ARG and EARG schemes.
20. The Council explained when its grants team received calls it referred people to its website for details and the application process. If the team were asked about eligibility they would have talked this through on the phone. It would have signposted those not eligible for a grant to the Business Growth Hub for information on any other help and support which may be available. It held regular meetings with the Business Growth Hub and gave it information about all the grant schemes.
21. It had a separate Covid Response Hub to support vulnerable people. This Hub did not offer advice on grants. On 11 May 2021 this Hub referred Mr X to the Council’s website for information about grants. It also signposted him to the Business Growth Hub for further support.
22. The Council had no record of advising Mr X that he was not eligible for a grant prior to the closing dates for the ARG and EARG.

Findings

23. There were many grants introduced from 2020 onwards. We would not expect councils to contact each business separately to give notice of each scheme. However, we would expect councils to publicise their schemes on their websites.
24. The Council has evidenced it advertised grant schemes on its website. While I recognise Mr X struggled to locate these schemes, I cannot find any evidence of fault.
25. The Council did not have to notify market traders each time a new grant became available. I do not find fault.
26. I have not seen any evidence the Council incorrectly told Mr X he was not eligible for any grants before the closing dates. I therefore cannot find fault.
27. The Business Growth Hub is not part of the Council and was not acting on behalf of the Council. Therefore, it is not appropriate for me to comment on its actions under this investigation.

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Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation. This is because I find no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman