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.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council refused to increase the amount of his COVID retail, hospitality and leisure grant following a change to the rating list which increased the rateable value of his business premises.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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Background

5. 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.
6. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors were entitled to grants depending on their rateable value as shown in the rating list on 11 March 2020.
7. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy produced guidance to help councils administer the grants. The guidance explains that later changes to the rating list, even if such changes are backdated to 11 March 2020, should be ignored for the purposes of eligibility. A council can make an exception if, on 11 March 2020, it already had good reason to believe the list was inaccurate for a particular address or business.

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My assessment

8. The Council awarded Mr X a £10,000 grant based on the rateable value of his premises when he applied in early April 2020 (£14,750).
9. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) increased the rateable value to £15,250 in July 2020 and backdated this change to 1 April 2017. Mr X then contacted the Council and asked it to make a further payment as the increased value would have entitled him to a grant of £25,000. The Council refused to increase the grant and upheld its decision on review in September 2020.
10. Because Mr X has known about this issue since September 2020 but did not complain about it until February 2023, his complaint is late. However, even if Mr X had complained in-time we would not investigate the matter. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council. Its decision not to increase the grant was in accordance with government guidance at the time and we could not therefore say the decision was flawed.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman