Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision not to renew her blue badge. The Ombudsman finds no fault in the Council’s assessment of Mrs X’s application and its decision to refuse a blue badge.

The complaint

1. The Complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains about the Council’s decision to not renew her blue badge and says it failed to properly consider the medical evidence she submitted in support of her application.

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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. 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 Mrs X’s complaint and the information she provided.
5. I considered all documentations in relation to Mrs X’s application including her application form and the Council’s mobility assessment.
6. I considered the information I received from the Council.
7. Mrs X and the Council both had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered Mrs X’s comments before making my final decision. I did not receive any comments from the Council.

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What I found

Legislation and relevant guidance

8. The Blue Badge (Disabled Person’s Parking) Scheme was introduced in 1971 under section 21 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
9. Local authorities are responsible for the day to day administration of the blue badge scheme. The Department for Transport (DfT) has published guidance for them to assist them when administering the scheme called the Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England). Anyone wanting a blue badge must apply to their local authority for one.
10. 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.
11. 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 meter; or
• have a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty walking.
12. 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.
13. The guidance states that applicants who can walk more than 80 metres without excessive pain or breathlessness and do not demonstrate very considerable difficulty in walking through any other factors would not be deemed as eligible.
14. New rules came into force on 30 August 2019. These are designed to make it easier for people with problems that are not exclusively linked to the physical act of walking to qualify for a badge.

What happened

15. In June 2019, Mrs X applied to the Council to renew her Blue Badge. Mrs X does not automatically qualify for a blue badge under the guidance therefore to consider whether she is eligible subject to further assessment, the Council invited her to a mobility assessment. The Council also requested medical evidence to support her medical condition of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
16. The independent mobility assessment was conducted by a qualified occupational therapist. The assessment report notes Mrs X has had ankylosing spondylitis for 15 years. When her condition ‘flares up’, it causes back pain and stiffness thus affecting her mobility.
17. Mrs X sees a rheumatoid arthritis consultant and a physiotherapist twice a year.
18. She has found having a blue badge helpful as the wider car parking spaces enable her to open the car doors fully so she can swing her legs out when getting out of the vehicle.
19. In the assessment, Mrs X walked approximately 150 metres at a normal pace. Mrs X uses a walking stick she purchased privately to aid her balance but she decided not to use it for the assessment. The Occupational Therapist recorded Mrs X had no difficulty with her breathing during the assessment, she did not require any rest time, there were no signs of significant or severe pain but signs of mild discomfort whilst walking were observed.
20. The Council decided that Mrs X did not meet the DfT guidelines for the blue badge and she is able to walk over a distance of 80 metres. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s decision and asked for it to reconsider. Mrs X said she believed that under the new guidelines she would qualify for a blue badge as her medical condition is a type of arthritis and this is listed as a non-visible condition that now qualifies for a blue badge. Mrs X also submitted a letter from her Rheumatology Consultant in support of her application to have the decision reviewed.
21. The Council reviewed the decision and considered the information Mrs X had submitted. However, there was no change to the Council’s decision because the mobility assessment demonstrated that she did not have the level of qualifying disability or functional loss to be eligible. The Council also said it had observed Mrs X walking in excess of the DfT’s eligibility criteria without significant pain and/or discomfort.
22. Mrs X was unhappy with the Review Panel’s decision and asked the Council’s Appeal Panel to consider her application. Mrs X submitted a letter from a Consultant Rheumatologist in support of her application. The Rheumatologist said Mrs X was significantly disabled, when her condition flares up she struggles with activities of daily living, she has great difficulty with mobility and needs a larger parking space when exiting and entering her car. Mrs X also submitted a letter from her Physiotherapist and GP in support of her application.
23. The Council considered Mrs X’s appeal and the additional information she provided. It advised her she remained ineligible for a blue badge because:
• She walked within excess of the DfT’s eligibility criteria without significant pain and/or discomfort;
• The need for space to open a car door is not a qualifying criterion for a blue badge; and
• The symptoms of her condition are variable in nature and therefore does not have a substantial and permanent impact on her mobility.
24. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s decision and brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

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My findings

25. It is not my role to decide if someone is eligible for a blue badge and I cannot question a council’s decision if it was properly made. I can only consider how a council made its decision.
26. In considering this, I expect councils to have followed the correct procedure, to have acted in line with the guidance and to have fully considered all evidence submitted by the applicant, including medical evidence. If this has not happened, I can ask a council to reconsider its decision.
27. Under the guidance, Mrs X was not automatically entitled to a disabled parking badge. Therefore, the Council asked a qualified occupational therapist to conduct an independent mobility assessment to consider whether she had “a permanent and substantial disability which causes an inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking”.
28. I have reviewed Mrs X’s mobility assessment. This shows that she decided not to use her walking aid and she walked approximately 150 metres. In her blue badge application, Mrs X stated she could walk comfortably from her home address to Road B. This is a distance of approximately 480 metres, far in excess of the DfT’s criteria of 80 metres.
29. The assessor also considered if there were other factors which would make it considerably difficult for Mrs X to walk. However, the assessment says Mrs X only showed mild pain and discomfort and there were no signs of breathlessness. I find the independent mobility assessor fully considered the information they had about Mrs X’s mobility difficulties and assessed her in line with the relevant guidance.
30. Mrs X says the Council should agree with the medical professionals who submitted letters in support of her blue badge application. Mrs X also says that she believes that her medical condition is a non-visible condition that qualifies for a blue badge under the new regulations. However, having a certain medical condition does not in itself qualify an applicant for a badge. Rather it is the effect of the condition or disability on the applicant’s ability to walk that is assessed. This assessment is the role of the independent mobility assessor, not an applicant’s GP, Consultant or Physiotherapist.
31. The assessor noted Mrs X’s requirement for wider parking spaces but did not take this into account when determining if she was eligible for a blue badge. This is in line with the guidance because entitlement depends on an applicant’s difficulty in walking, not matters such as the need for a wider parking space.
32. The Council considered Mrs X’s individual circumstances in line with the old guidance and the new 2019 guidance, it took into account relevant factors including information from her GP, Physiotherapist and Rheumatologist. As a result, I have found no evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mrs X’s application for a blue badge and her subsequent appeals.

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Final decision

There was no fault in how the Council considered Mrs X’s blue badge request. Therefore, I have completed my investigation and closed this case.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman