Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr A’s complaint about the Council’s actions regarding his Blue Badge. This is because there is no evidence of fault warranting an Ombudsman investigation. The Ombudsman cannot tell the Council to withdraw a ban placed on Mr A. This is because the court made the order about the restrictions placed on Mr A and only the court can amend them.

The complaint

1. Mr A says as a disabled person the Council should reissue his Blue Badge. Mr A says the Council has ignored his requests. In addition, Mr A says the Council should withdraw its lifetime ban on email and postal applications, apologise and compensate him.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Mr A and the Council provided. I sent Mr A a copy of my draft decision and considered his comments and further documentation.

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What I found

4. Mr A says he should be awarded an automatic Blue Badge because he is unable to upload an application online.
5. The Council says it has given Mr A advice on several occasions about making an application for a Blue Badge either in person or by post but has confirmed it has not received any applications from Mr A.
6. Mr A does not meet the criteria for an automatic Blue Badge so he will need to follow the advice given by the Council if he wants it to consider his Blue Badge application. The Council has advised Mr A how to do this and confirmed this process with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman could not say this is fault.
7. Mr A says the Council should withdraw its lifetime ban on email and post. The restrictions placed on Mr A’s contact with the Council are court imposed.
8. However, the court injunction does not prevent Mr A from contacting appropriate individuals in the Council in relation to Council Services including Blue Badge applications.
9. The Ombudsman cannot tell the Council to lift an injunction imposed by a court, only a court can do this. The Council has explained to Mr A that he has access to the library and other Council facilities to assist him with his Blue Badge application, including an application in writing or if he needs assistance, he can contact a named officer. Mr A should use the means he has available to him to pursue his application. The Ombudsman could not say this is fault.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault warranting an Ombudsman investigation. The Ombudsman cannot tell the Council to withdraw a ban placed on Mr A by the courts. This is because the court made the order about the restrictions placed on Mr A and only the court can amend them.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman