Ms A complained that the Council had failed to correctly assess her Council Tax liability and Council Tax Reduction (CTR)benefit. She was also concerned that the Council had failed to correctly assess eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) and a School Essentials Grant (SEG).She said that the Council had failed to do these things over a 5 year period.
The assessment found that Ms As concerns, as they related to the period before September 2023, were out of time to this office. Her concerns about Council Tax liability and the CTR benefit were outside of the Ombudsmans jurisdiction.
The assessment found that the Council had failed to assess eligibility for FSM when Ms A had made an application for CTR in January2024. The Council later established that her son had been eligible for FSM, backdated to January 2024. It was also possible he may have been eligible from October 2023 onwards. As FSM eligibility had not been determined in a timely manner by the Council, Ms A had missed the opportunity to obtain a SEG for the2023-2024 academic year.
Instead of investigating this complaint, the Ombudsman obtained the Councils agreement to resolve Ms As concerns. It agreed to assess the correct period of eligibility for FSM and offer to refund Ms A the payments she made during that period. It also agreed to retrospectively assess her eligibility for a SEG for 2023/24 and offer her the sum she would have been entitled to, and to offer a payment of£100 for time and trouble.