Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the length of time that the Council has renewed the complainant’s Blue Badge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has only renewed his Blue Badge under October 2021. This is the same date that his Personal Independent Payment (PIP) expires.

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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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the government’s Blue Badge guidance and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Blue Badge rules and government guidance

4. People who receive a specific part of PIP are passported to a Blue Badge (they qualify without further assessment). PIP is often awarded for a fixed period of time. The rules say people can apply to renew the PIP from six months before it is due to expire.
5. The Blue Badge government guidance says that when entitlement to a badge is linked to PIP then the period of issue should be linked to the period of the PIP award, when that period is less than three years.

What happened

6. Mr X receives PIP. His PIP award expires in October 2021. The Council recently renewed his Blue Badge based on his entitlement to PIP. The Council renewed the badge until October 2021.
7. Mr X complained to the Council and said the guidance says that when someone has received a passporting benefit (e.g PIP) for more than three years then a badge should be renewed for three years. Mr X has received PIP, or a corresponding benefit, for 20 years.
8. The Council put this point to a senior Blue Badge officer in the Department of Transport (DfT). The DfT officer told the Council that it was correct to renew the badge for the duration of the PIP award until October 2021. The Council confirmed its decision to Mr X.
9. Mr X wants the Council to renew the badge for longer to give him time to renew the PIP award. He is also unhappy that the Council said it would not consider his complaint further.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. This is because the rules say the Council should award a badge until the PIP expires. The Council’s decision is consistent with the guidance and the DfT confirmed to the Council that its decision is correct.
11. Mr X could start the PIP renewal process at the earliest opportunity to reduce the chance of the badge expiring before the PIP is renewed.
12. Mr X complains that the Council would not consider his complaint further. However, the Council sent two responses and signposted Mr X to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

13. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman