Festive closure 

Our office will be closed for the festive period from 25 December 2025 and will reopen on Monday 5 January 2026. 

We will be open on 29, 30 and 31 December between 10am – 12pm and 2pm – 4pm. During these times, we will be focusing on handling reviews of crisis grants received due to the urgency of these applications. If you wish to request a review of a community care grant application you can do so online. Alternatively, you can call us on 5 January 2026 and we can take your application over the phone.

Our normal service resumes on 5 January 2026 at 10am. 

Case study

  • Date:
    January 2023
  • Category:
    Calculation of award

Example

C asked for an independent review of the council's decision. They had applied for a Crisis Grant due to their Universal Credit payment being zero due to earnings.

The council awarded C £150 for 28 days along with an increased amount to take into account the cost of living increase. C requested a first tier review of the decision on the basis that this was not enough but the council did not change their decision.

We reviewed the council's case file and attempted to contact C but they did not respond to any contact from our office. As such we were unable to determine why this amount was not enough to last. We did not change the council's decision but provided feedback to the council about the guidance not being followed in respect of the calculation of the award.

Updated: October 8, 2025