THE LEADER of Harlow Council has responded to the request by the leader of the Harlow Conservatives for “a definitive time frame in which every single business that has applied for a grant will receive an answer as to whether their application is successful”. 

Councillor Ingall responded with a letter back, that he has also sent to YH.

Cllr Ingall said

HARLOW Council has disbursed £35 million of Government grants since the start of the pandemic. The money disbursed has been borrowed by the government and will need to be repaid by the tax payer. It is therefore only right and proper that due care is taken to ensure only genuine claims are paid. I’m sure we have both seen news reports of Councils who are facing horrendous problems because they have lost significant sums to fraudulent claims.

Harlow Conservatives recently championed the case of a hairdresser who had not received a grant. I am truly upset at her plight, but the lack of a grant in this case was not due to a Council failing, but due to the grant requirement set out by the Conservative Government.

We spoke directly to the hairdresser yesterday and fully explained the situation to her.

Harlow Conservatives also supported on social media another business who was expressing concern about the lack of a grant payment. That particular business has not been paid as there remain unresolved issues around statements made by the director. Payment is not possible until these are resolved.

The regulations that dictate who is paid and what information must be provided are set out by the Conservative government. They are extremely complex and they change every time the level of lockdown changes. Since late November the Council has had to operate in tier 2, tier 3, tier 4 and now in a National lockdown.

Council Officers have worked flat out to cope with the ever changing grant payment regulations, but unfortunately due to the complexity of the regulations, the importance of not making mistakes and detailed level of information that needs checking, some businesses have not yet received a decision.

As I informed the MP for Harlow, prior to your letter, I have set a rigorous timetable for the remaining businesses to receive a decision. Officers have informed me that it is their aim that all businesses will have received a decision by Friday the 11th of February.

However, to be clear that does not mean every business will get a pay out. If the claim does not meet Conservative government regulations, whether we agreed with those regulations or not, we would be acting improperly to pay out. If the claim is fraudulent then we would be acting improperly to pay out.

More than a week ago I asked you and to our MP to send details of any cases that you considered to need my immediate attention to my direct email address. You sent me none. I offer again to work with you to deal with any cases that you consider unfair, but I will not apologise for taking due care with tax payers money.