During June we:
- responded to 50 enquiries
- made 40 decisions
- 13 community care grants
- 27 crisis grants
- upheld 7 (54%) of community care grants and 5 (19%) of crisis grants
- we signposted an additional 83 applications to other sources of assistance
- 55% (46) were calling us instead of their local council in error
- 17% (14) noted that they had accessibility issues relating to contacting the council as there was no freephone number
- 20% (17) were from local council liaison contacts seeking advice on the guidance
- the remaining contacted us prematurely. We signposted them back to their local councils
Training August 2025
We are currently organising three in-person training sessions, scheduled to take place in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow in August 2025. These sessions will focus on enhancing clarity and consistency in communication, as well as effective recording of decisions.
The training, which is designed to be interactive, will include case studies, practical exercises and group discussions. It is aimed at SWF managers and colleagues who are involved in training or coaching. Attendees will be able to use our training materials to then deliver this to their own teams.
We will share full details, including confirmed dates and session content, within the coming weeks.
Case summaries
We changed several decisions this month due to councils incorrectly assessing the information available during the application and first tier process.
Case study: Evidence gathering
C applied for a crisis grant after having to pay £300.00 in excess costs for repairs to two mobility vehicles. As a result, they were without money for living costs for them and their disabled partner.
The council declined the application on the basis that C had already received five awards in the last 12-month period which is more the usual maximum allowed. They did not identify any exceptional circumstances that would allow for an additional award to be made as they assessed that C had applied previously due to car repairs being the reason for the crisis.
We reviewed the council's file and spoke with C. We reviewed the previous applications and found that, although they mentioned car trouble, the cause of the crisis was spending money on travel costs rather than car repairs. As such, the current application was materially different from previous applications. We considered the application passed all relevant stages of the decision making process. We therefore changed the council's decision and made an exceptional award.
Recommendations
- We instructed the council to make an award of £277.74 to cover food and utilities until C’s next Universal Credit payment date, based on the recommended daily rate in the guidance.
Feedback for the Council
- Paying for travel costs and having to pay excess insurance costs are materially different reasons for a crisis.
- The decision letters should not refer to fault as this has been removed from the guidance.
- Decision making records should be robust and reflect the reasons for the council's decision.
We asked the organisation to provide us with confirmation that the award was made within one week.
You can find more examples in the searchable case directory on our website.