The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s Blue Badge application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault, in the Council’s decision, to justify investigating.
The complaint
Ms X complained that the Council rejected her Blue Badge application and refused her appeal, saying the decision was unfair because she previously had a badge and the Council did not properly consider her medical conditions. She said the refusal caused avoidable distress by making it harder to leave the house.
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) 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
Ms X said the Council failed to consider the impact of her medical conditions on her mobility during her initial application for a Blue Badge and subsequently on appeal.
The Council’s initial consideration of Ms X’s request and appeal correspondence demonstrates it considered Ms X’s medical conditions, but this still fell short of the level of impairment that would mean Ms X was eligible for a Blue Badge.
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 will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault. On the information available in the reports I have seen, there is evidence the Council have followed the processes and considered Ms X’s medical needs and its impact, scored them in line with its assessment criteria and decided she did not meet the threshold for a Blue Badge. It explained why it had considered the impact of the medical evidence on her mobility, but also why that evidence still fell short of eligibility. It also considered the additional information Ms X provided as part of her appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman