Summary: The Council failed to consider Ms X’s application for a blue badge in accordance with the blue badge guidance.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has refused her 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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information provided by Ms X together with the Council’s response to the complaint and information provided by the Council in response to our initial enquiries. I have also taken account of relevant legislation. Both Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this document.

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What I found

The Blue Badge scheme

5. The Blue Badge scheme is to help disabled people with severe mobility problems access goods and services by allowing them to park near their destination. The scheme provides parking concessions for blue badge holders. Councils are responsible for the day-to-day administration and enforcement of the scheme. This includes assessing whether people are eligible for a badge.
6. The guidance says that people who can walk 80 metres and do not demonstrate very considerable difficulty in walking are not eligible for a badge. Councils should take into account factors such as pain, speed, balance, gait and shortness of breath when assessing if someone can walk 80 metres. The guidance says that people who walk slowly will not be eligible if that is the only qualifying factor.
7. New rules came into force on 30 August 2019. These are designed to make it easier for people with problems that are not exclusively linked to the physical act of walking to qualify for a badge.

Key facts

8. Ms X is in her thirties. She applied to the Council for a renewal of her blue badge in June 2022 citing numerous physical and mental health conditions. Ms X has Fibromyalgia causing widespread pain throughout her body which she says impacts her ability to walk for more than a few minutes at a time. She also experiences anxiety and depression, for which she takes prescribed medication. Ms X has also been diagnosed with an allergy to sunlight meaning she has to limit her time in direct sunlight.
9. In her application Ms X gave a detailed description of her conditions, and the impact on her. She also listed all her medication.
10. Ms X also provided copies of letters arising from hospital appointments written to Ms X’s GP, one of which details musculoskeletal issues which impact on Ms X’s mobility.
11. Ms X’s GP also provided a letter to the Council confirming that Ms X suffers chronic anxiety, pain, and fatigue.
12. The Council wrote to Ms X to say the information she had submitted was insufficient to qualify for a blue badge and invited Ms X to attend a mobility assessment.
13. Ms X attended the assessment on 2 August 2022. I have had sight of the report. The assessor recorded that during the assessment Ms X walked 30 metres. The recording of the time and scoring is not clear, but it is apparent that Ms X walked slowly and needed to hold on to her daughter for some of the time. The assessor scored Ms X an overall 26 points.
14. The Council refused Ms X’s application and wrote to her to inform her on 22 August 2022.
15. Ms X contacted the Council again in early December 2022 to ask it to review its decision saying she had further information to support her application. Ms X attached a letter from a psychiatrist.
16. In December 2022 the Council wrote to Ms X to ask that she undergo further assessment to assess the impact of her psychological condition under the ‘hidden disability’ criteria.
17. Ms X submitted further information in support of her application. Letters from the mental health team to Ms X’s GP, confirm her mental health issues, and that she has not used public transport for 6/7 years.
18. The Council considered Ms X’s application under the hidden disability criteria on 12 January 2023. It concluded Ms X did not meet the criteria for a blue badge.
19. The Council wrote to Ms X in March 2023 apologising for the delay in completing the review. The author of the letter confirmed Ms X had submitted numerous supporting letters from the NHS and that she experiences enduring psychological difficulties which impact on her ability to make some journeys, but this did not meet the eligibility criteria for a blue badge.

Analysis

20. It is not my role to decide whether Ms X is eligible for a blue badge or give a view about the degree to which she meets the relevant criteria. My role is to consider whether the Council followed the correct process in coming to a decision.
21. In this case I am not satisfied the Council has followed the correct process.
22. The Council appears to have based its decision to refuse Ms X a blue badge on how many overall points were scored but, in this case, the overall guidance for qualifying for a blue badge appears to have been missed.
23. The upper walking limit for a badge to be refused is 80 metres but it appears Ms X walked only 30 metres. The assessor reported Ms X’s walking style as shuffling and limping. Her walking speed appears very slow and is described as ‘household ambulator’. The assessor reported Ms X showed signs of pain half-way through the walking assessment and had to stop. She was also reported to be in severe pain at the end of the walk.
24. The guidance suggests that at this speed someone should be treated as virtually unable to walk.
25. Given the above, while Ms X did not score enough points, it would appear the Council failed to consider the application in accordance with the blue badge guidance.
26. The Council has now reconsidered Ms X’s application and agreed to award her a blue badge.

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Agreed action

27. The Council will award Ms X a blue badge.

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Draft decision

28. The Council failed to consider Ms X’s application for a blue badge in accordance with the guidance. It has agreed to award Ms X a blue badge.
29. It is on this basis; the complaint will be closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman