The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint of Council disability discrimination against blind and visually impaired people as a result of its decision to widen a footpath in Mr X’s locale. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council’s decision to widen a footpath in his locale, used by him and his blind wife, is evidence of disability discrimination. He says the Council has not fulfilled its duty under the Equality Act 2010 and he disagrees with measures taken by the Council to address issues relating to the use of the footpath.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about the impact of its decision to widen a footpath in his locale on disabled people, particularly those who are blind or visually impaired and particularly about use of the widened footpath by cyclists.
The Council considered Mr X’s complaint and explained an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out which concluded overall the scheme would advance equality of opportunity. It said reasonable adjustments had been taken to address accessibility issues and appropriate signage introduced to help manage the behaviour of cyclists. It confirmed it had considered Mr X’s suggestion about restricting physically the access to the widened footpath between planters placed in the area but said it did not pursue this option due to the disproportionate impact on people who for example, use wheelchairs and pushchairs.
We cannot decide if a council has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. We can make decisions about whether or not a council has properly taken the Act and its duties under it into account. Here the Council carried out an EIA and considered the impact on disabled people. Mr X may have a view about what steps the Council should take in relation to cyclists but such decisions are for the Council to decide and there is no evidence to suggest fault has affected its decisions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman