Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to renew his concessionary bus pass on the basis of a learning disability. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to renew his concessionary bus pass despite him providing evidence of eligibility due to a learning disability. He says the Council is discriminating against him. He also complains of poor complaints handling. He wants the Council to accept he has a learning disability, issue him a bus pass on this basis and improve its service.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response, the Council said it required evidence of a learning disability diagnosis in order to renew his bus pass on this basis. It said it had made enquires from the NHS trust to obtain evidence of this, but so far, neither he nor Mr X’s GP had provided the Council with this evidence. It said it had been unable to renew his bus pass on this basis. It accepted it had previously issued him a bus pass without requiring this evidence and apologised to him for any confusion caused by this.
6. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council’s procedure requires evidence of a learning disability diagnosis before it will approve or renew a concessionary bus pass on this basis. It considered evidence provided by Mr X and the response from Mr X’s GP, who stated they did not hold any diagnostic records. It was not satisfied that Mr X met the eligibility criteria due to learning disability and so decided not to renew his bus pass on this basis. Although Mr X disagrees with this decision, the Council made appropriate enquires and considered relevant information before reaching its decision. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
7. Mr X also complains about poor complaints handling but it is not a good use of our resources to investigate a complaint about complaints handling where we decide not to investigate the substantive matter.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman