Example
Mr C applied for a crisis grant for food and living expenses as he had no money for food for his family until his next benefit payment. He explained that he purchased a fortnight’s worth of perishable and frozen goods then went away for the weekend. When he returned home, he said that his fridge freezer was broken and the food spoiled. He purchased a second-hand appliance online using the last of his income, and collected it early the following morning, leaving him with no money remaining.
The council noted that the applicant had received three awards in the past 12 months, which is the usual maximum. They declined to make an additional discretionary award on the basis of the applicant was unable to provide supporting evidence, and that there could not be said to be no fault on the part of the applicant. This decision was upheld at the first tier review stage.
Mr C then applied to SPSO for an independent review of the application. We considered the facts and circumstances of the case. We assessed that the circumstances described in the application were potentially different in nature from previous applications. However, the applicant could not provide any evidence of the purchase of a significant amount of food or the purchase of the new fridge freezer. Additionally, we noted numerous inconsistencies in the information provided. Lastly, as the applicant had chosen to spend his last £100.00 on a new device immediately, leaving himself in crisis, we determined that there was an element of fault. Taking into account the applicant’s circumstances and the SWF Guidance (section 7.23) when assessing exceptional awards, we did not consider that this application met the eligibility criteria and therefore did not change the council’s decision. We provided some feedback regarding the council’s written communication.