Summary: The Ombudsman has discontinued his investigation into Mrs T’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to renew her blue badge. The Council has now agreed to renew Mrs T’s blue badge and she has confirmed that her complaint is resolved.

The complaint

1. Mrs T complained that the Council unfairly decided not to renew her Blue Badge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by Mrs T and the Council and spoke to Mrs T on the telephone.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

5. The Department for Transport has issued guidance to councils for issuing blue badges to disabled people with severe mobility problems.
6. Some people are eligible for a blue badge without further assessment. This includes those in receipt of the higher rate of the mobility part of the Disability Living Allowance or those who have eight points or more under the ‘moving around’ activity of the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment.
7. Other people are eligible subject to further assessment if they:
• drive a vehicle regularly, have a severe disability in both arms and are unable to operate, or have considerable difficulty in operating, all or some types of parking metre; or
• have a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty walking.
8. The guidance says eligibility should be confirmed by an independent mobility assessor and sets out the factors to be considered when assessing a person’s mobility. This includes distance, speed of walking, the length of time an applicant can walk for, excessive pain, breathlessness, manner of walking and use of walking aids.

Key facts

9. Mrs T’s blue badge was due to expire in September 2018 so she applied for it to be renewed. The Council invited her for a mobility assessment following which it rejected her application.
10. Mrs T requested a review of the Council’s decision but the decision remained unchanged. Mrs T then appealed. Her appeal was considered by the appeal panel which rejected it stating that she did not have a level of qualifying disability or functional loss to be eligible for a blue badge.
11. Mrs T complained to the Ombudsman and her local councillor.
12. The Council has now reviewed its decision and agreed to renew Mrs T’s blue badge. She has confirmed this has resolved her complaint and she does not wish to pursue the issue further.

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Final decision

13. I have discontinued my investigation because the Council has agreed to renew Mrs T’s blue badge and she has confirmed this has resolved her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman