Summary: Miss D complains the Council refused her application for a blue badge. My provisional view is that there was no fault by the Council. It has offered to assess Miss D’s mobility and reconsider its decision.

The complaint

1. Miss D complains the Council refused her application for 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 cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Miss D about her complaint and considered:
• The Blue Badge Scheme Guidance (England), Department of Transport, 2014.
• Miss D’s Blue Badge application form and supporting evidence, the Council’s refusal letter, and its determination of her appeal.
6. I gave Miss D and the Council an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) introduced a new social security benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16-64. From October 2013 the DWP started to invite existing DLA recipients to claim PIP.

Blue Badge scheme

8. The Disabled Persons’ Parking Badge Scheme provides a national arrangement of on-street parking concessions for severely disabled people who are unable, or find it difficult, to use public transport. The Scheme is for people with severe mobility problems.
9. Previously, anyone in receipt of the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA was entitled to a Blue Badge "automatically", i.e. without further assessment.
10. As DLA no longer exists for people aged 16-64, the Government decided to give automatic eligibility for a Blue Badge to those who receive eight points or more under the 'Moving Around' activity of the mobility component of PIP, because they cannot stand and walk (aided or unaided) more than 50 metres. An applicant in receipt of this award will have a decision letter from the DWP. Under the Mobility Component section, the letter will describe the degree to which the applicant can ‘Move around’.
11. Blue Badge applicants should provide the council with proof from the DWP they scored eight points or more. If they do not, the badge will not be issued. If the applicant has lost their PIP decision letter, they should contact the DWP for a replacement
12. Those who are not automatically entitled to a Blue Badge may still qualify under discretionary criteria, if they can show their mobility is significantly impaired. This eligibility must be determined by an independent mobility assessment.
13. An independent mobility assessment will not be offered if the council decides that the applicant is clearly eligible or ineligible, based on the information it has.

Changes to the Blue Badge scheme

14. From September 2019, there will be new eligibility criteria for a Blue Badge. A person may be entitled if they have been certified by an expert assessor as having an enduring and substantial disability which causes them, during the course of a journey, to:
• Be unable to walk; or
• Experience very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress.
15. The Council has therefore updated its application and assessment process to incorporate non-physical disabilities. It has asked residents that have a non-physical disability to apply from September 2019 onwards.

What happened

16. Miss D used to receive higher level DLA but is now receiving PIP. She has a mobility car and had previously had a blue badge.
17. Miss D applied to renew her blue badge in January 2019. She enclosed her council tax reduction statement, which showed she received a PIP mobility enhanced award. Miss D’s application says she:
• received 12 points under the PIP moving around award because she could not walk further than 20 metres.
• had agoraphobia, which caused breathing problems whilst walking.
• could not walk unaided without another person.
• used an elbow crutch.
• was prescribed medication for pain in her legs and back.
• struggled to walk long distances and got dizzy.
18. She said it was painful to walk for more than a few minutes and sometimes she could not walk at all.
19. The Council contacted the DWP. It says the DWP advised that Miss D received four points under the moving around award. Miss D was therefore not automatically eligible for a blue badge.
20. The Council did not invite Miss D for an independent mobility assessment because it had determined she was clearly ineligible, based on the information it had. It refused Miss D’s application in April 2019.
21. Miss D appealed and sent further evidence that she received a PIP enhanced mobility award. The Council refused the appeal. It said it would require further information about her walking difficulty due to a medical condition. Miss D complained to the Ombudsman.
22. The Ombudsman cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the Council has had an opportunity to reply to it. As Miss D had not complained to the Council, we asked it to consider her complaint. The Council said it could not resolve the matter through its complaints procedure because it could see no fault in the way it had determined Miss D’s application or appeal. As the Council had had an opportunity to respond to the complaint, we decided to investigate.

My findings

23. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had recently invited Miss D for an independent mobility assessment, but she had not attended. Miss D says she could not make it to the assessment as she could not get there. She told me the Council did not realise how ill she was.
24. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to decide if someone is eligible for a blue badge. My role is to look at how the Council made its decision.
25. If a council has followed the correct procedure, taking into account all relevant information, and given clear reasons for its decision, the Ombudsman cannot generally criticise it. The Ombudsman cannot uphold a complaint simply because a person disagrees with the professional judgement of a council or its officers.
26. In this case, I cannot criticise the Council’s decision to refuse Miss D’s Blue Badge application. The evidence the Council had was that Miss D did not automatically qualify for a Blue Badge as she did not have proof from the DWP that she received more than eight points under the moving around award.
27. The Council was entitled to decide she was clearly ineligible and therefore not invite her for a mobility assessment. I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it made this decision.
28. The Council has nonetheless invited Miss D for a mobility assessment. I understand Miss D was unable to attend. As she is not automatically eligible for a Blue Badge, she must have an independent mobility assessment to be considered eligible. Miss D may wish to apply again after September 2019, when psychological distress can be considered.

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Final decision

29. There was no fault by the Council. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman