Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s blue badge application process. This is because Miss B has not been caused a significant personal injustice by the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained the Council’s blue badge application process is ineffective and unfit for purpose. Miss B completed the application for a friend and says there have been problems in communicating with the Council. The Council asked her to resend documents and information that she had already sent with the application. Miss B says that she has felt upset and stressed because of the poor service. Miss B wants an apology and £250 remedy from the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss B has provided a final response from the Council. The Council says Miss B sent messages to the wrong email address. The Council also says it asked more questions because it did not have enough information to make a decision.
6. The Council has apologised to Miss B for any frustration caused. This is a proportionate response and further investigation by us could achieve no more than this. While Miss B had some inconvenience applying for a blue badge, there is no more significant injustice to Miss B warranting investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is no significant injustice to Miss B from the Council’s actions warranting an ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman