Summary: Mrs F complained the Council failed to publish the discretionary energy rebate scheme in a timely manner. She also said it provided her with misleading information and its complaints handling and communication was poor. We find the Council was at fault for its communication with Mrs F and its complaints handling. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs F complained the Council failed to publish the discretionary energy rebate scheme in a timely manner, it provided her with misleading information and its complaints handling and communication was poor.
2. Mrs F says the matter has caused her anxiety and stress. She says she has spent an excessive amount of time asking the same questions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mrs F. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
6. Mrs F and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Energy rebate scheme

7. In February 2022 the government announced an energy rebate scheme to help households with fuel costs. The elements that councils were responsible for were:

• A £150 non-repayable rebate for households in Band A-D properties, known as the council tax rebate; and
• Creating their own discretionary scheme to support any household in need, known as the discretionary fund.

8. Councils had up to 30 November 2022 to issue payments to eligible households under the discretionary fund.

The Council’s discretionary energy rebate scheme

9. The Council published its scheme on 1 September 2022.
10. The Council updated its scheme on 3 October 2022 to include occupants of properties in council tax bands E to H who receive a class U exemption.

What happened

11. This chronology includes an overview of key events and does not detail everything that happened.
12. Mrs F contacted the Council in April 2022 and asked for information on its discretionary energy rebate scheme. She said she wanted to know the timescales on when the funds would be made available. Mrs F says she contacted the Council twice before this.
13. The Council emailed Mrs F a few days later and said it was waiting for answers from the government to various questions before it could finalise its scheme.
14. Mrs F replied and said the government had published guidance for the scheme on its website. She made a freedom of information request to find out what questions it had raised with the government and when.
15. The Council responded and said it had until 30 November to pay residents and it was working through the process as quickly as possible. It said it had passed her freedom of information request to the relevant department.
16. Mrs F contacted the government department responsible for the energy rebate scheme. She asked if the Council had asked any questions. An officer from the department responded and said she was not aware of any outstanding queries from the Council.
17. Mrs F contacted the Council on 6 May and provided it with her communication with the government officer. She said she could not understand why it had not published its policy. She said she wanted to raise a formal complaint and asked it to refer the matter to its complaints department.
18. The Council responded to Mrs F’s freedom of information request. It said it took part in some calls the government held with all councils. The government then issued updated guidance and a frequently asked questions document.
19. Mrs F contacted the Council again on 9 May. She said it had received all the information it needed in February. She said she wanted to add this new issue to her complaint.
20. The Council responded the following day and said it was not its intention to mislead her. It provided her with a link she could click on if she wanted to make a formal complaint.
21. Mrs F contacted the Council on 27 May and asked it to formally acknowledge her complaint. The Council responded on 1 June and said it would respond by 20 June.
22. Mrs F chased the Council for a response on 21 and 29 June.
23. The Council responded to Mrs F’s complaint on 1 July. It said it received further clarification on the energy rebate scheme in March. It said the officer she had dealt with was not part of the team administering the energy rebate and when responding had taken information from the Council’s website. It said the officer had misinterpreted the information. It said it was still working on determining the criteria for the discretionary scheme.
24. Mrs F referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. She said she was unhappy it had failed to publish the scheme.
25. The Council responded on 4 July and said the discretionary energy rebate scheme was a matter for members to consider and approve. It said it had until 30 November to utilise the funding, but it hoped it would publish the scheme within the next week or so.
26. Mrs F contacted her MP about the issue. She also sent further emails to the Council.
27. Mrs F asked for an officer to call her on 28 July to discuss the scheme further. The officer was on annual leave, but he did call Mrs F on 16 August when he returned. Mrs F was not available, and a call eventually took place on 24 August.
28. The Council emailed Mrs F on 1 September and confirmed details of the scheme was now available on its website. It said she would not be eligible for a payment.
29. The Council updated the criteria for the scheme on 3 October. Mrs F was eligible under the updated criteria, and she has now received her payment.

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Analysis

30. The Council had until 30 November 2022 to utilise the funding from the discretionary scheme. The Council has met this target and has now contacted all eligible households.
31. Mrs F concern is with the Council’s delay in publishing the scheme. I appreciate Mrs F’s frustration, but there was no date in the government guidance which set out when councils had to publish their discretionary schemes. The only deadline was that councils had to issue payments by 30 November 2022. As I have stated above, the Council has met this deadline. The Council has explained the process was lengthy because it needed to discuss the matter with members.
32. With regards to the Council’s communication with Mrs F, I agree its communication about the outstanding information it needed was misleading. It told her in April it was waiting for answers from the government, but then it later transpired it had received the information in March. I can understand why Mrs F may have felt the Council was being dishonest with her.
33. The Council should have also managed Mrs F’s expectations better. It told her when it responded her complaint on 4 July it hoped to publish the scheme within the next week or so. However, it did not publish the scheme until 1 September. It should have provided her with a more realistic timescale, and this may have avoided her further contact.
34. Mrs F told the Council on 6 May she wanted to make a formal complaint and asked it to pass the matter to its complaints department. She added further information to her complaint on 9 May. It is clear the Council failed to refer her complaint to its complaints department, as it told her on 10 May she had to click on a link and raise a complaint. In my view this was unnecessary as Mrs F had already made it clear what her complaint was. The officer should have passed Mrs F’s concerns to the complaints department, rather than putting her to further time and trouble and asking her to repeat herself.
35. The Council also said it would respond to the complaint by 20 June but did not do so until 1 July. The Council did not update Mrs F and tell her its response would be delayed. This is fault. As a result, this caused Mrs F frustration and she was put to time and trouble chasing a response.

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Agreed action

36. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 3 February 2023 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Mrs F.
• Pay Mrs F £100 to reflect her time and trouble and frustration.

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Final decision

37. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mrs F an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman