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:
    May 2024
  • Category:
    When two crisis grant applications should have been treated as one

Example

C requested an independent review of the council's decision on their crisis grant application. C applied for money for food as their Universal Credit payment had been reduced due to a sanction. 

The council declined the application on the basis that C had received three awards in the last 12-month period. They did not identify any exceptional circumstances that would allow for an additional award to be made. 

We reviewed the council's file and spoke with C, noting that C had applied twice in one month for the same period of crisis. The council made two awards, each for two weeks, even though the application form indicated the sanction end date. We determined that this should have been treated as one award. 

Consequently, the applicant had only received two official awards, meeting the eligibility criteria without requiring exceptional circumstances. We instructed the council to make an award until the applicant's next benefit income and gave feedback that they had not followed the guidance.

Updated: May 21, 2024