Example
C asked us to review the council's decision on their community care grant application. C applied for a specific type of blinds for their living room and bedroom due to hypersensitivity to light caused by their medical conditions.
The council initially awarded and paid £1637.17, the amount that it would cost them to provide items from their supplier less VAT. C requested a first tier review stating that the amount awarded was not sufficient to meet the need and because VAT had been withheld. However, the first tier review was not carried out. It appears this was because C accepted the cash award (despite disagreeing with the amount). C then requested a first tier review again, several months later. The council refused this, determining that C was out of time to make their review request.
We reviewed the council's file and spoke with C. We assessed that the council should not have refused the late review request. They should have accepted it on the basis that C's original first tier request was not completed.
We determined that the council should have awarded the amount C originally requested for the appropriate items they had sourced. We noted that this amount was not significantly more expensive than the amount they were quoted by their suppliers, and that the items the council intended to award from their suppliers only partly met the needs of the applicant.
We instructed the council to award the difference between the amount awarded and the amount originally requested (£488.83). We also provided the council with feedback on time bar assessments and their decision letters.