Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council administered a grant. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s administration of a sport and leisure grant. He said the Council required recipients of the grant to spend the money within four weeks of receiving it. He also complained the conditions of the grant did not specify it needed to be repaid if it was not spent by March 2025. Mr X said the Council had blocked his application for further grants. Mr X wants the Council to review its decision.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X applied to the Council for a grant to fund courses at the leisure group he runs. In his application he said the courses would run between May and October 2024. Due to a lack of courses, Mr X said he could not use the grant. The Council subsequently asked Mr X to repay the grant.
6. In its complaint response, the Council said Mr X had not spent the grant on the courses as agreed in his initial application. Therefore, it required Mr X to return the funds. It said it would not consider further applications until Mr X had repaid the grant.
7. Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response, we will not investigate. The conditions require the grant to be used in line with the initial application unless agreed otherwise. Mr X’s application was for courses during 2024. The grant has not been used for this, therefore, there is no evidence of fault in the Council asking for it to be repaid.
8. The grant conditions state the grant should be used within four weeks of receipt. However, the Council confirmed it allowed Mr X use of the grant until October 2024. Therefore, there is no evidence this condition has caused a significant injustice to Mr X.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman