Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council’s assessment of her for a Blue Badge was flawed. there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to properly consider her medical conditions when it assessed her for a Blue Badge. As a result, she says she and her children’s quality of life has been affected. She wants the Council to give her a Blue Badge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X applied for a blue badge, on the grounds of poor mobility.
7. The Council wrote to her and declined her application. It said there was insufficient evidence that Mrs X experienced significant enough mobility issues when undertaking a journey. It later rejected her appeal for the same reasons.
8. Mrs X was unhappy and complained to us.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. That means we will not take another look at a decision and come to our own conclusions. Instead, we look at the process the Council followed when it made its decision. If we consider it followed these processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
10. We will not investigate this complaint further. The Council considered the information and evidence Mrs X provided in line with the Department of Transport Guidance. It has explained to Mrs X why she is not eligible. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mrs X’s blue badge application. Therefore, we can neither criticise the decision nor justify further involvement.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman