The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to award him a COVID-19 hardship payment for the 2021/22 financial year because there is no evidence of fault in its decision. We will not investigate the Council’s publication of misleading information on its website as the issue did not cause Mr X significant injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council refused his application for a COVID-19 hardship payment in the amount of £150.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Background
The Council ran a COVID-19 hardship payment scheme in the 2020/21 financial year to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic pay their council tax. The scheme provided a £150 payment towards council tax to those who met certain criteria. Mr X applied for the payment in 2020 and the Council approved his application and awarded him the payment.
Mr X later contacted the Council to ask if he could apply for a COVID-19 hardship payment for the 2021/22 financial year. But the Council explained the scheme was only for the 2020/21 financial year and was not available for subsequent years.
Mr X then contacted the Council again on 24 May 2021 when he saw information about the scheme on the Council’s website and believed it had reopened, but the Council has explained this was an error. It has removed the information from its website and apologised to Mr X for any confusion caused. But it has declined to award him a further payment as the scheme is no longer running.
My assessment
There is no fault in the Council’s decision not to award Mr X a payment under its COVID-19 hardship payment scheme for the 2021/22 financial year. The scheme ran for one year only and was not available for 2021/22. It was therefore correct to refuse Mr X’s application.
While the Council kept information about the scheme on its website this does not mean it must reopen the scheme and award Mr X a further payment. The information may have raised Mr X’s expectations but the Council had already explained the scheme was not available for 2021/22 so I do not consider it caused Mr X significant injustice.
If Mr X is struggling to pay his council tax he may wish to apply for a discount under the Council’s discretionary scheme. Further information about this is available on the council tax section of the Council’s website under “online forms”. If the Council refuses Mr X’s application he may appeal against its decision to the Valuation Tribunal.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s decision not to award Mr X a COVID-19 hardship payment for the 2021/22 financial year was not affected by fault and any injustice he suffered as a result of seeing information about the scheme online did not cause him significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman