Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s consideration of and refusal decision on her application for a blue badge. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to warrant us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X applied for a blue badge to give her access to parking spaces closer to her destinations. She complains the Council failed to fully and properly consider her medical conditions and how they affect her as an individual when dealing with her blue badge application.
2. Mrs X feels frustrated by the situation and wants the Council to issue her with a blue badge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We may only criticise a council’s decision where there is evidence of fault in its decision-making process and but for that fault officers would have made a different decision. So we consider the processes councils have followed to reach their decisions. We cannot replace a council’s decision with our own or someone else’s opinion if it has been reached after following the proper process.
7. Mrs X asked the Council to review its initial refusal of her blue badge application. The Council invited Mrs X to an in-person assessment, to consider her mobility and gather further information. The assessor asked Mrs X about her daily living activities and any support she receives, and about her medical history and future proposed treatments. They observed Mrs X’s mobility and compared it against the walking ability criteria set out in the blue badge eligibility guidance. The assessor’s view was that Mrs X did not meet the criteria for a blue badge at that time because her mobility was insufficiently affected by her conditions for her to be eligible.
8. The Council's panel of senior managers and healthcare professionals then considered Mrs X’s application. The panel took account of Mrs X’s medical information and diagnoses. They observed that under national government guidance, eligibility for a blue badge is not solely determined by the absence or presence of a medical diagnosis or condition. Someone could be found eligible on mobility grounds where they have an enduring and substantial disability which means they cannot walk, or leads to very considerable difficulty when they are walking. Based on the information Mrs X had submitted during her application, including her personal medical information, and the in‑person assessor’s report, the panel determined her level of mobility meant she was ineligible for a blue badge and they upheld the original refusal decision.
9. The Council took account of Mrs X’s medical conditions and their impacts on her individual mobility when making its refusal decision. During the blue badge process, officers considered the evidence relevant to the assessment of Mrs X’s mobility and applied the national government guidance on eligibility for the badge. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process here to warrant us investigating. We recognise Mrs X disagrees with the Council’s decision. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
10. Mrs X may reapply for a blue badge six months after the Council’s last decision. We understand her medical conditions are degenerative and that she is waiting for future treatments. If Mrs X considers her mobility worsens to the extent that it may then make her eligible for a blue badge before six months has passed, she may wish to reapply to the Council sooner. She should provide officers with any new information she has about her medical conditions or other issues affecting her mobility. It would then be for the Council’s officers to consider that information in the first instance as part of any new and valid blue badge application.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman