Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his blue badge application. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X, on behalf of his son, Y, complains about the Council’s decision to refuse Y’s application for a blue badge. Mr X says that Y has hidden disabilities, and mobility issues the Council has not properly considered.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. 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. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Blue Badge Scheme helps people with severe physical mobility problems, or other conditions affecting their mobility, to access goods and services. The guidance says councils must make sure they only issue badges to residents who satisfy one or more of the criteria set out in legislation.
8. There are two types of eligibility criteria. If immediate eligibility is not established, the Council needs to consider if the applicant drives regularly and has severe disability in both arms, or has a severe and enduring disability that causes an inability to or considerable difficulty to walk, or be at risk of serious harm to self and others when walking.
9. If an applicant is unhappy with the outcome of an assessment, they may ask the council to review the decision.
10. Mr X applied for a blue badge for Y. The Council refused his application and said there was not enough evidence of Y experiencing very considerable difficulty when walking.
11. Mr X appealed the Council’s decision. The Council said Mr X did not show Y met the Department for Transport’s criteria for a blue badge and the decision to refuse his application was upheld.
12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. On balance, the Council has considered Mr X’s application in line with the Department for Transport’s guidance.
13. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not remake the decision. We can only consider whether there is fault in the way the Council made its decision, and I have seen no evidence of such fault here.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman