Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrongly refused her application for a COVID-19 business grant in 2020. This is because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council failed to award her a discretionary business grant to help her business through the COVID-19 pandemic. She says this resulted in her being made homeless, which affected her mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council wrote to Miss X in July 2020 to confirm she had missed the deadline to apply for a grant under its discretionary scheme. However it then wrote again on 13 August 2020 stating it had reopened the scheme to allow her an opportunity to apply. It provided a link to the scheme criteria and attached its guidance.
7. Miss X applied for the scheme but she did not meet the criteria; the Council therefore refused her application. It also explained Miss X was unable to provide evidence of her annual turnover, cash reserves and fixed property costs, all of which were required for it to award a grant.
8. Miss X was aware of the Council’s decision to refuse her application by 8 September 2020 but did not complain to us in March 2023, more than 2 and a half years later. Her complaint is therefore late.
9. I appreciate Miss X became homeless during this period but I do not consider this provides grounds to exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint some 1.5 years outside our normal timescales. It is also unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision even if we did investigate as Miss X was unable to provide evidence to show she met the criteria for the scheme.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to investigate further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman