The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to renew his organisational blue badge. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to renew his organisational blue badge. He says his business has held a blue badge for several years to transport disabled people. He says the Council’s decision may cause challenges in providing this service.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X.
I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and the Department for Transport’s Blue Badge scheme local authority guidance (England) (the Guidance).
My assessment
Mr X runs a voluntary transport organisation, which provides transport services for disabled people. The organisation has held an organisational blue badge for several years.
When Mr X applied to renew his blue badge, the Council decided his application did not meet the criteria as set out in the Guidance. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision and believes the Council has assessed his application too harshly.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
I have reviewed the Council’s decision and its review of that decision and I am satisfied it has followed proper processes in assessing Mr X’s application. The evidence I have seen shows the Council considered the information Mr X provided, assessed that information against the Guidance, responded to Mr X’s specific queries and concerns, and made a decision it was entitled to. As there is no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision, we cannot question the outcome. Therefore, I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.
I acknowledge that Mr X is frustrated, especially as he says his business previously held a blue badge. However, as the Council explained, each application is assessed on current eligibility criteria and past approvals do not guarantee future ones.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman