Example
Mr C applied for a crisis grant for money for food and electricity. He stated in his application that he had failed to make his reduced Universal Credit award last, and that he was starting work
The council’s original decision was to refuse the applicant on the basis of his award history. They noted that he had received four awards in the past 12 month period and that the circumstances of the current application could not be seen as exceptional. The first tier review decision maker upheld this decision.
The applicant then contacted SPSO for an independent review of the council’s decision. We considered the facts and circumstances of the case and contacted Mr C for further information. He explained that he had not told the council the real reason for the crisis. Mr C advised that he had agreed to be the guarantor for a friend’s loan, and that they had defaulted, resulting in payments being taken directly from his account. We considered that this met the definition of exceptional circumstances (section 7.23 SWF Guidance) and were provided with bank evidence to support this explanation. As this information was not available to the council, we changed the decision on the basis of new information having been provided. However, we provided feedback about the quality of the council’s written communication and decision making notes. We instructed them l to make an award of £104.16.