Watchdog orders Devon County Council to review child benefit

Devon County Council did not pay child benefit to families who should have received the payments

A local authority did not pay child benefit to families who should have received the payments, it has emerged.

Devon County Council has now been ordered to revisit cases involving about 300 families.

A local government watchdog investigation found the council wrongly had a blanket policy of deducting child benefit from all special guardians receiving Universal Credit.

Devon County Council agreed to change the policy with effect from January.

Special guardians are people such as grandparents who look after a child but without a formal adoption process.

The investigation was sparked by a complaint from a woman who was looking after her grandchild as a special guardian.

'Disappointing'

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council was wrongly taking into account benefits payments when calculating the allowances.

Ombudsman Amerdeep Somal said: "It is disappointing that the council cannot provide us with any evidence that it considered the individual circumstances of special guardians receiving means-tested benefits before making the deductions and instead applied its policy to everyone without justification.

"In addition to this, it relied on its own policy to make these calculations - not national guidance - but its policy was based on its misunderstanding of our decisions in other cases."

Devon County Council told investigators there were 170 other special guardians in the county on means-tested benefits who may have been affected by its calculations, and a further 125 where the council had no information.

Ms Somal said: "I am pleased the council has now agreed to amend its policy and revisit the calculations it has made to others in its area, but it should not have taken several complaints by this grandmother and our investigation for it to realise that its own policy was wrong."

Allowances recalculated

In this case, the council has agreed to apologise to the grandmother and recalculate the Special Guardianship Allowance (SGA) and pay her a sum equivalent to the deductions it has made since January 2022.

It will also pay her a combined £600 for the delays caused by its complaints process, and for the lack of support and information following her Special Guardianship Order.

The council has agreed to recalculate the allowances it has paid to the other 170 special guardians using correct guidance and to repay them for any deductions it has wrongly made.

For the other 125 carers about whom the council has no information, it has agreed to invite them to provide information so the council can make any necessary repayments.

The BBC has contacted Devon County Council for comment.