Summary: Mr C complains about the way in which the Council dealt with his renewal application for a blue badge, which he says resulted in a delay. As such, there was a gap between the day his old badge expired and the day he received his new badge. The Ombudsman found there was no fault by the Council, in relation to the actions complained of.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr C, complains the Council failed to properly deal with his renewal application for a 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 the information Mr C and the Council provided to me. I also interviewed the manager from the Council responsible for (re)issuing blue badges. I shared a copy of my draft decision statement with Mr C and the Council and considered any comments I received, before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Legislation

5. National Guidance for councils on how to administer and enforce the Blue Badge disabled parking scheme, issued by the Department for Transport (DfT), states that:
• (4.4) Some people may be issued with a badge without further assessment. This includes people who receive the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and have obtained 8 points or more under the “moving around” activity.
• (4.9) A blue badge applicant in receipt of this award will have a decision letter from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The letter will describe the degree to which the applicant can ‘Move around’ and, as such, how many points they have been awarded.
• (4.10) These awards from the DWP are all subject to review. As such, old award letters may not be reliable indicators of current eligibility. If the award letter is more than 12 months old: we recommend you check the validity of the PIP decision letter by calling the PIP Enquiry Line on 0800 121 4433.
• (4.13) If the applicant submits a document as proof of evidence that does not specify the descriptor through which they are in receipt of PIP, the council should not issue a Blue Badge.

What happened

6. Mr C says he has had a blue badge for more than 20 years. The Council says there is no requirement in the guidance to send a renewal reminder to people when their blue badge is about to expire. Nevertheless, the Council decided that it would send out these letters to clients 10 weeks before a badge expires. The Council’s website says it can take up to 10 weeks to fully process a Blue Badge application.
7. According to the records, the Council sent a letter to Mr C on 6 December 2019 to remind him that his blue badge would expire; this was 10 weeks before the expiry date of 12 February 2020.
8. Mr C receives the higher rate mobility PIP, which makes him eligible for a blue badge. He tried to complete an online blue badge application form but told the Council’s Blue badge team by email on 10 December 2019 that he could not complete it. His email said: “completed the application to the point where I had to state licencing council and you were not recognized but it gave this (email) address to apply”.
9. The Council says it does not know what online application form Mr C used in December 2019. However, it was not the Council’s one. As he did not complete the form, the Council did not receive it at this point in time. However, Mr C did receive an automatic email response from the Council, which said he would receive a response to his email within 20 working days. The Council contacted Mr C via email on 8 January 2020 to confirm it had not received his application.
10. Mr C submitted an online application on 8 January 2020. The Council told me its online application form tells applicants (who are applying due to their PIP mobility award) that the documents they send as supporting evidence, need to show what mobility scores they received. Furthermore, that this information should not be older than twelve months.
11. I reviewed the online form, which says:
• Upload proof of PIP Award from Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It should clearly show entitlement to PIP assessment scores mobility scores.
• Does your proof of benefit also confirm your current address (and is dated within the last 12 months)?
12. On 8 January 2020, Mr C only sent a copy of the “Statement of Entitlement” he received from the DWP on 25 June 2018. The document said Mr C had been awarded 12 points with regards to “Moving around”. A client the high PIP mobility rate if they score at least 12 points. The DWP does not send out this document to clients every year.
13. In response, the Council told Mr C that the statement was out of date (more than 12 months old). Mr C subsequently also sent (on 25 January 2020) a copy of his most recent annual PIP statement letter from March 2019. The DWP sends this out to its clients every year. This statement was less than twelve months old and said that Mr C was entitled to £61.20 a week; which is the high PIP mobility rate.
14. The Council told Mr C on 3 February 2020, that it did not have all the required evidence. It said his Statement of Entitlement document was not dated within the last 12 months and the Council would need a copy of his statement of entitlement, dated within the last 12 months. It provided a DWP telephone number for him to request this. When a customer calls the number, they can ask for an up to date “Letter of Entitlement”, which they will usually receive within 7 to 10 days.
15. Mr C told me that:
• It was not possible to provide an up to date “Statement of Entitlements” as he only received one in 2018. However, he did submit a recent PIP annual renewal letter from the DWP that said he wold receive £61.20 a week for the next year.
• The Blue Badge team should have known that a payment of £61.20 a week means that he receives 12 points, which should guarantee him a Blue Badge. Anyone who has more than 8 points under “Moving around” is automatically entitled to a blue badge. As such, Mr C says this March 2019 annual renewal letter included enough evidence about his entitlement.
• Where an original PIP Statement of Entitlement (showing points awarded etc) is more than twelve months old, the Council should accept the PIP annual renewal letter as appropriate evidence.
16. The Council says:
• Its approach is in line with the national DfT Guidance. It is up to the applicant to provide the required evidence that they meet the eligibility criteria.
• On its own, confirmation that Mr C received £61.20 per week, did not confirm the reason/criteria this was based on. The Council is aware that a payment of £61.20 equates to 12 points being awarded. However, the Council needs confirmation if the pointes are being received under the components: “Planning and Following Journeys”, “Moving Around” or a combination of both. The DfT guidance clearly states that it is only an award of 8 or more points under the “Moving Around” component, that equates to an automatic award of a blue badge. To ensure badges are issued correctly, the Council must receive up to date evidence to confirm that the award is relevant to an automatic entitlement to a Blue Badge. It has asked applicants to contact the DWP for up to date information and there have not been any problems with this so far.
• They have tried some time ago to get up to date information by calling the DWP (see Para 5 4.10 above). However, this was not successful. However, there is a plan in place that, by around September 2020, there will be a system through which councils can get up to date information online from the DWP.
• Until then, it will review whether it is possible to inform applicants, who apply on the basis of their PIP or DLA mobility award, as early as possible that: the applicant needs to ask the DWP for an up to date “Letter of Entitlement”, if their “Statement of Entitlement” is more than 12 months old.
17. The Council told me that it applied its discretion with regards to Mr C’s case, and decided on 13 February 2020 that, in the interest of resolving Mr C’s concerns, it would reissue his badge based on the information he had provided so far.

Analysis

18. It is government guidance, not Council rules, which says that applicants need to submit evidence that is less than twelve months old, and includes information about: the PIP mobility award they are receiving and details as to how and why they have been awarded this etc.
19. Guidance from the DfT recommends that, if the award letter is more than 12 months old, the Council should: check the validity of the PIP decision letter by calling the PIP Enquiry Line. I have not seen evidence the Council considered and/or tried this approach. Instead, the Council has chosen to ask applicants to contact the DWP and ask for an up to date “Letter of Entitlement”, when needed.
20. While this approach is different than the one proposed in the Guidance, the Council’s decision to ask the applicant to obtain and provide this current evidence, is not fault. The DWP guidance has only recommended councils should call the DWP.
21. The Council hopes there will be a system in place by September 2020 through which it will obtain up to date information directly from the DWP

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Final decision

22. For reasons explained above, my view is there was no fault by the Council. I have therefore closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman