London Borough of Harrow (22 009 513)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mrs C asked the Council to provide her with a reasonable adjustment so that she could attend an assessment for a Blue Badge. The Council delayed properly considering Mrs C’s request and there was a delay in the assessment. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs C and provide her with a small financial remedy.
The complaint
- Mrs C complains that the Council failed to properly consider her request for a reasonable adjustment in her application for a Blue Badge. She says the process was delayed.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether or not an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them.
- Organisations will often be able to show they have properly taken account of the Equality Act if they have considered the impact their decisions will have on the individuals affected and these decisions can be challenged, reviewed or appealed.
- If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have discussed the complaint with Mrs C. I have considered the documents that she and the Council have sent, the relevant law, guidance and policies and both sides’ comments on the draft decision.
What I found
Law, guidance and policies
Equality Act 2020
- The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. It offers protection, in employment, education, the provision of goods and services, housing, transport and the carrying out of public functions.
- The Equality Act makes it unlawful for organisations carrying out public functions to discriminate on any of the nine protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010. They must also have regard to the general duties aimed at eliminating discrimination under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
- The ‘protected characteristics' referred to in the Act are:
- age,
- disability,
- gender reassignment,
- marriage and civil partnership,
- pregnancy and maternity,
- race,
- religion or belief,
- sex, and
- sexual orientation.
Reasonable adjustments
- The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and applies to any body which carries out a public function. It aims to make sure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
- Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them.
Council’s policy
- The Council’s ‘Equality of Opportunity Policy’ echoes the Equality Act. The Council says the underlying principle is that it will ‘ensure services are responsive and truly accessible to our customers and service users.’
What happened
- Mrs C applied for a Blue Badge on 10 July 2022. She provided supporting evidence of medical conditions/disabilities which affected her walking. This included evidence of anxiety and depression.
- The Council wrote to Mrs C on 1 August 2022 and said that, as she did not automatically qualify for a Blue Badge, it would offer her an assessment by a mobility assessor on 24 August 2022 at their main offices.
- Mrs C responded on 3 August 2022 and said she accepted that an assessment was needed but said she had severe depression and anxiety. This was exacerbated by travelling to certain areas of the borough and the Council’s offices was one of those areas. She asked the Council to make a reasonable adjustment to the assessment and proposed either an alternative venue or a home assessment.
- The Council responded on 8 August 2022 said it could not offer an alternative venue or home visit.
- Mrs C responded on the same day and said the Council had not explained how it had considered her request for a reasonable adjustment and why it had rejected it. She pointed out that the Equality Act placed a duty on councils to make reasonable adjustments if a person was placed at a substantial disadvantage because of their disability.
- She said it would be extremely difficult for her to attend the assessment if the Council did not make the reasonable adjustment. She had found out that the assessor was not based at the Council’s offices so she offered to travel to the assessor’s usual work place.
- Mrs C received no response to this email so she chased the Council on 18 August 2022 as the appointment date was getting closer, but received no further response.
- Mrs C was unable to attend the assessment on 24 August 2022 because of anxiety.
Complaint – August 2022
- Mrs C complained to the Council on 27 August 2022. She said the Council failed to respond to her request for a reasonable adjustment and she had not heard anything further from the Council since 8 August 2022.
Response – September 2022
- The Council responded to the complaint on 12 September 2022. It said that, if Mrs C was unable to attend because of her anxiety, it could change the date of the assessment and she could be accompanied by a friend or family member. The Council said its procedures were not discriminatory and said it was quite reasonable to ask applicants to attend an assessment to ensure applicants met the eligibility criteria.
Complaint – September 2022
- Mrs C responded on the same day and said the Council’s response had not really answered her complaint. She did not object to attending an assessment but needed a reasonable adjustment in relation to the location of the assessment. The Council had still not responded or explained why the reasonable adjustment she had requested could not be made.
Response – September 2022
- The Council responded on 14 September 2022 and apologised to Mrs C for the stress and anxiety it had caused her. It had reviewed her case and the medical information she had sent and it now agreed to send the assessor to her home to assess her. It said she would be contacted within a few days to make the appointment.
Assessment – November 2022
- Mrs C contacted the Council on 10 October 2022 as she had still not been offered an appointment for the assessment. The Council responded the following day and offered an appointment on 23 November 2022. The assessment took place on that day.
Analysis
- Mrs C made her initial request for a reasonable adjustment in August 2022. She explained how her underlying mental health conditions meant that she was unable to access the service and how the Council could meet her needs by making a reasonable adjustment to its service. The Council did not respond except to say that it refused her request.
- The Council should have considered its duties under the Equality Act and its Equality Policy to make its service accessible to Mrs C who had a disability. The Council’s failure to consider the request was fault.
- There was then further fault as the Council did not respond to Mrs C’s email dated 8 August 2022. Mrs C had to make a complaint to obtain a response.
- In the Council’s complaint initial response dated 12 September 2022, the Council still did not say how it had considered Mrs C’s request, nor did it explain why it had refused the request.
- On 14 September 2022, the Council then fully reviewed Mrs C’s case and the evidence she had provided and agreed to offer her a home assessment. That was good practice and meant Mrs C was able to access the service.
- However, there was then a further delay as the Council agreed to the request on 14 September 2022, but did not carry out the assessment until 23 November 2022, after Mrs C had to chase them.
- Mrs C has suffered an injustice as a result of the fault as the process caused her anxiety and stress and it meant the assessment was delayed.
Agreed action
- The Council has agreed to take the following actions within one month of the final decision. The Council will:
- Apologise to Mrs C in writing for the fault.
- Pay Mrs C £100 as a symbolic amount for the distress.
- Remind relevant Council officers of their duties to provide reasonable adjustments.
Final decision
- I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed the remedy to address the injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman