London Borough of Harrow (19 020 579)

Category : Adult care services > Transport

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 19 Oct 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman has discontinued the investigation as the Council has offered a re-assessment of Mrs C to decide whether she is eligible for a Blue Badge.

The complaint

  1. Mr B complains on behalf of his mother, Mrs C. He says the Council has failed to properly assess Mrs C’s eligibility for a Blue Badge.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
  2. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I have discussed the complaint with Mr B and considered the information sent.

Back to top

What I found

  1. Mrs C applied for a Blue Badge in November 2019 on the basis that she was in receipt of Personal Independence Payment. The Council rejected the application as Mrs C did not provide evidence of the PIP. Mrs C appealed the decision and the Council assessed Mrs C’s eligibility in January 2020. The outcome of the assessment was that Mrs C was not eligible for a Blue Badge.
  2. Mr B says the assessment was flawed as the assessor did not properly assess Mrs C’s ability to walk and did not fully consider the medical evidence.
  3. The Ombudsman informed the Council of its decision to investigate the complaint in September 2020. The Council responded and said it had decided to offer Mrs C a re-assessment.
  4. If I carried out an investigation and found fault in the Council’s actions, then the Ombudsman’s remedy would be to ask the Council to re-assess Mrs C. As the Council has already offered a re-assessment, any further investigation would not result in a better outcome for Mrs C and I therefore propose to discontinue the investigation.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. I have discontinued the investigation as nothing further can be gained from an investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings