The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal of a blue badge application for Miss X’s child. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Miss X said the Council wrongly refused an application for a blue badge for her child. She said her child is non-verbal, has autism and attends a special school.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Our role here is limited to deciding whether the Council acted properly in considering the application and Miss X's appeal. We cannot reach our own view about whether the Council should have awarded the blue badge if it considered the evidence Miss X put forward.
The Council carried two desk-based assessments of Miss X’s application and appeal. It then arranged an in-person clinic assessment of her child. The Council accepted her child had autism, attended a special school, and was pre-verbal. However, it decided that the risks of the child running off into traffic or dropping to the ground while crossing a road were mitigated by the presence of Miss X. It also found that coping strategies (of which it listed several) had not all been tried, and that the blue badge was not yet necessary. While Miss X takes a different view, that is not evidence of fault by the Council in considering the case she put forward.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman