Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to give the complainant a Blue Badge. This is because the Council has reversed its decision and decided the complainant is eligible.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, disagrees with the Council’s decision not to issue a Blue Badge. She would like the Council to give her a 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the Council has already provided a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and asked the Council for some information. In response the Council told me it had reviewed the case and decided to award a badge to Ms X. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Ms X applied for a Blue Badge. The Council considered the application but decided she did not qualify. Ms X asked for a review. The Council confirmed its decision not to award a badge.
5. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman. I asked the Council for some background information. In response, the Council said it had identified an error in the way it had processed the application. For three months the Council used a contractor to process Blue Badge applications. The contractor should have passed Ms X’s review request to the Council but it did not do so. Instead the contractor confirmed to Ms X that was not eligible for a badge.
6. The Council has discussed the application with Ms X and decided she is eligible for a badge. It has apologised for the inconvenience. The Council says it will be aware of this error if it uses the same contractor again.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because the Council has recognised its error, apologised and awarded a Blue Badge to Ms X. It will also learn from the error if it awards another contract to this contractor. This is an appropriate remedy and there is no reason to start an investigation.

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Final decision

8. I will not start an investigation because the Council has already provided a fair remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman