North Somerset Council (19 001 540)

Category : Adult care services > Transport

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 20 Sep 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Council did not have sufficient detail at the time of Mr A’s application to award a Blue Badge under the new criteria. It was not at fault. Mr A can now reapply as the new criteria have come into force.

The complaint

  1. Mrs A (as I shall call the complainant) complains that the Council refused to renew Mr A ‘s application for a Blue Badge or consider it under the new criteria for hidden disabilities.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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

  1. I considered the information we received from the Council and from Mrs A. I spoke to Mrs A. Both the Council and Mrs A had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement and I considered their comments before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

  1. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Blue Badge Scheme is to help disabled people with severe mobility problems access goods and services by allowing them or a carer to park near their destination. The scheme provides parking concessions for Blue Badge holders. Local authorities are responsible for the day to day administration and enforcement of the scheme. This includes assessing whether people are eligible for the badge.
  2. The DfT issues Guidance to councils for providing Blue Badges to disabled people with severe mobility problems. The guidance says that councils must ensure they only issue badges to residents who satisfy one or more of the criteria set out in legislation.
  3. Some people are automatically entitled to a blue badge (without further assessment). They include people who receive eight points or more under the “moving around” activity of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Others can apply for a discretionary Blue Badge on the basis of an independent mobility assessment.
  4. On 30 August 2019 the DfT issued new guidance to councils to expand the eligibility criteria for the badges, which now includes people who cannot walk as part of a journey without considerable psychological distress or the risk of serious harm.

What happened

  1. Mr A, who has dementia, was awarded a Blue Badge in 2015. Mrs A applied for a renewal in March 2019. She ticked the box on the application form which asked if Mr A had been awarded the mobility component of PIP in the category of “moving around”. She sent a copy of his PIP award letter to the Council with the application form. The award letter said Mr A received 12 points for “planning and following a journey”, but no points for the “moving around” category, the criteria for which was that he could stand and then move for more than 200 metres.
  2. The Council rejected the renewal application. It said he should have at least 8 points in the “moving around” category to qualify for a Blue Badge, but he did not.
  3. Mrs A appealed against the Council’s decision. She said she understood that under the new criteria, people like Mr A with hidden disabilities would be eligible for a Blue Badge.
  4. The Council considered the appeal. It wrote to Mr A in April and said the appeal had been considered by an independent assessor who confirmed the original decision. It said he could apply again in six months’ time. It said he could apply before then if there was a significant deterioration in his mobility.
  5. Mrs A complained to the Ombudsman.
  6. The Council says “several conversations” were held with Mrs A about the possibility of an application under the mobility criteria but Mr A had not made an application under that part of the scheme
  7. The Council says since Mr A’s application it has also introduced the following paragraph into its letters : “If you do not meet the criteria under section 2 currently, it may be helpful to know that there was a national consultation in 2018 regarding eligibility for people with ‘hidden disabilities’ which make moving around outside difficult; including autism and mental health conditions.  These changes are expected to come into effect at the end of August 2019.  If this change is appropriate to you, I would encourage you to reapply when it is implemented.”
  8. The Council says that although the new scheme was made public in March 2019, the DfT did not release the detailed criteria until June. It says it is not awarding any Blue Badges until the new scheme comes into force on 30 August.
  9. Mrs A has now made a further application under the new criteria. She remains concerned about the way the application was rejected when circumstances had not changed since the award of the previous badge.

Analysis

  1. At the time when Mr A applied he did not meet the criteria for the Blue Badge. He had the opportunity to appeal against the refusal which was his remedy against that decision.
  2. The Council considered his appeal but the new criteria were not yet in force. So the Council was not at fault in the way it reached its decision to refuse his appeal.
  3. The Council’s letter rejecting Mr A’s appeal could have included more information about the possible options. The Council has now included a paragraph of explanation. The omission of the explanation did not make a different to the outcome here, however.

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Final decision

  1. There is no evidence of fault on the part of the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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